To state a breach of contract claim based on an employment manual, a plaintiff "must point to a provision that contains 'an express or implied promise concerning the terms and conditions of employment.'" Michaels v. BJ's Wholesale Club, Inc., No. 11-5657, 2014 WL 2805098, at *14 (D.N.J. June 19, 2014) (quoting Witkowski v. Thomas J. Lipton, Inc., 136 N.J. 385, 393 (1994)). Plaintiff does not point to any specific provisions of the employee manual.

Such would be a protected activity. Smith v. Exxon Mobil Corp., 374 F. Supp. 2d 406, 419 (D.N.J. 2005) ("[Plaintiff] engaged in a protected activity when she turned to various levels of management with complaints regarding . . . sexual harassment."); Hargrave v. County of Atlantic, 262 F. Supp. 2d 393, 424 (D.N.J. 2003) ("Plaintiff . . . clearly engaged in protected activity . . . when she made complaints about Defendant['s] . . . alleged sexual harassment"); Michaels v. BJ's Wholesale Club, Inc., No. 11-5657, 2014 WL 2805098, at *6 (D.N.J. June 19, 2014) (quoting Fabrikant v. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co., A-5995-05T1, 2008 WL 281690, at *7 (N.J. Super. Ct. App. Div. Feb. 4, 2008)) ("Protected activity can include a plaintiff[']s complaints concerning allegations of discrimination against herself or others . . . .").

Protected activity includes allegations of harassment of other employees. Michaels v. BJ's Wholesale Club, Inc., No. 11-5657, 2014 WL 2805098, at *6 (D.N.J. June 19, 2014) ("Protected activity can include a plaintiffs complaints concerning allegations of discrimination against herself or others . . . ." (quoting Fabrikant v. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co., A-5995-05T1, 2008 WL 281690, at *7 (N.J. Super. Ct. App. Div. Feb. 4, 2008) )). Plaintiff's complaint alleges his employer unlawfully retaliated against him by way of his termination in January 2016.

The disclaimer does not contain legalese or the kind of confusing language found to render a disclaimer ineffective in Nicosia, supra."Michaels v. BJ'S Wholesale Club, Inc. , No. CIV. 2:11-05657 KM, 2014 WL 2805098, at *14 (D.N.J. June 19, 2014), aff'd , 604 Fed.Appx. 180 (3d Cir. 2015). The two initial sentences state: "This Village Super Market, Inc. and Associates Handbook is for your information only.

The protected activity must be known by the retaliators in this case, "i.e., the decision makers with regard to" the adverse employment action. Michaels v. BJ's Wholesale Club, Inc., 2014 WL 2805098 (D.N.J. June 19, 2014). It is unquestionably disputed whether this decision was made by Mr. Bunton or made by Ms. Weir at Mr. Bunton's suggestion. (See supra n.3.) As such, a jury should resolve the issue of whether Ms. Papp's rejection of sexual advances was known by the person that allegedly retaliated against her.

These promises are "too vague and unspecific" to sufficiently overcome NWNA's explicit at-will employment policy. Michaels v.BJ's Wholesale Club, Inc., 2:11 Civ. 5657 (KM)(MCA), 2014 WL 2805098, at *17 (D.N.J. June 19, 2014) (holding that the employer's "alleged promise to treat employees 'fairly' is too vague and unspecific" to support the plaintiff's claim that his termination was a breach of contract (citing Weichert Co. Realtors v. Ryan, 128 N.J. 427, 435 (1992))); Monroe v. Host Marriot Servs. Corp., 999 F. Supp. 599, 606 (D.N.J. 1998) (holding that a company's "Guarantee of Fair Treatment" was "lacking in specificity and explicit terms regarding job security and termination policies and is therefore not an employment contract capable of being breached."). The promises are an "expression of the Company's philosophy" but not "an implied promise sufficient to predicate a contract upon."

In that regard, the Colleague Handbook disclaims, in sufficiently prominent and crystalline language, any suggestion that such document created any implied contractual arrangement. See Michaels v. BJ'S Wholesale Club, Inc., 2014 WL 2805098, at *15-*16 (D.N.J. June 19, 2014) (finding a handbook disclaimer effective where it stated the at-will nature of the employment, and sufficiently emphasized such provision in the initial pages of the document); Warner v. Fed. Express Corp., 174 F. Supp. 2d 215, 226-27 (D.N.J. 2001) (finding an employment handbook that stated that "[t]hese benefits and policies in no way constitute an employment contract" sufficiently clear for an employee to know that the handbook did not provide any contractual rights). Nor does Plaintiff's deposition testimony create the inference of any contrary interpretation.

A number of factors bear on whether an employee may reasonably understand that an employment manual is intended to provide enforceable employment obligations, including the definiteness and comprehensiveness of the termination policy and the context of the manual's preparation and distribution.Witkowski v. Thomas J. Lipton, Inc., 136 N.J. 385, 393 (1994); see also, e.g., Michaels v. BJ'S Wholesale Club, Inc., No. 11-cv-05657, 2014 WL 2805098 (D.N.J. June 19, 2014). Here, Plaintiff contends that Wegmans' employee handbook and/or company policies create such an obligation.