A former director for food distributor B&G Foods Inc. has filed an employee retaliation lawsuit, claiming she was driven out of her job for opposing a potentially unlawful mandate from her immediate supervisor.

Plaintiff Robin Z. says she used to work for B&G as Supervisor of Co-Manufacturing.

That position placed her in charge of the production and packaging of certain B&G products under the direct supervision of defendant John K.

According to her employee retaliation lawsuit, Robin claims that in Sept. 2015, John directed her to authorize production of a B&G popcorn-based product known as “Pirate’s Booty” under a new recipe without any attendant change in labeling to reflect the new ingredients, and without referring the recipe change to B&G’s regulatory department for approval.

Robin says she reasonably believed that changing the Pirate’s Booty recipe without updating the label would violate the federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act and Nutrition Labeling and Education Act, as well as New Jersey consumer protection laws.

On those grounds, Robin says, she objected to John’s order. John nevertheless declined to rescind it.

Employee Retaliation Lawsuit Claims Objections Were Well-Grounded

She says she consulted the company’s regulatory affairs manager, who told her that the new recipe was indeed a new master formula that would require regulatory department approval and a new label.

Robin says the manager told her that the altered product would have been subject to recall if it had gone into production as John had ordered.

She says she then reported the issue to John’s immediate supervisor, then circulated an email to all concerned persons calling for a correction to John’s allegedly erroneous order.

Later, in November 2015, Robin also reported to John that the 4-ounce bag of Pirate’s Booty failed to indicate that the product contained vitamin D, possibly violating federal law and potentially putting some consumers at risk for an allergic reaction.

John took no action in response to her report, she claims.

In her employee retaliation lawsuit, Robin says the trouble surfaced when John gave her a written performance evaluation in December 2015.

After Robin had allegedly met or exceeded performance requirements from 2008 through 2014, she claims, John alleged her job performance was poor and that her supervisor title was in jeopardy.

That review resulted in a lower annual salary increase for Robin – 1.5 percent, as opposed to the 3.5 to 4 percent she had received in previous years, she claims.

Robin claims John gave her the negative performance evaluation and smaller pay increase as retaliation for her prior contravention of his orders. She says this and other conduct created an untenable work environment that effectively drove her out of her job.

In January 2016, she says, she resigned her position – but not before the alleged retaliatory action had caused her “severe emotional distress, and compensatory and consequential damages, including the loss and forfeiture of her pension.”

Her employee retaliation lawsuit raises a single claim for violation of New Jersey’s Conscientious Employee Protection Act, also known as CEPA or the Whistleblower Act.

She seeks a damage award that would cover her lost wages, benefits, pension and other remuneration, as well as compensation for her emotional distress. She also seeks an award of punitive damages and reimbursement of her attorneys’ fees and court costs.

The B&G Employer Retaliation Lawsuit is Case No. L-1806-16, in the Superior Court of New Jersey, County of Morris.