L’Oréal Beats Claims it Wrongly Fired Patent Lawyer Over Quotas

L’Oréal USA Inc. shook off claims under a New Jersey employee protection law that it illegally fired an attorney who refused on ethical grounds to meet patent quotas after the District of New Jersey on Friday found no showing that the company ever asked him to do anything unethical.

Steven Trzaska alleged the company violated New Jersey’s Conscientious Employee Protection Act, which shields employees from retaliatory actions by their employers when they refuse to perform illegal or unethical actions.

But any assertion that a violation of a rule of professional conduct occurred or was imminent “is wholly undermined” by Trzaska’s ...