A New Jersey appeals court has affirmed a ruling disqualifying a plaintiffs lawyer and his firm in a whistleblower suit against a medical device company.

The Appellate Division upheld the disqualification of Kevin Barber and his firm, Niedweske Barber Hager of Morristown, New Jersey, from representing the plaintiff in Sanchez v. Maquet Getinge Group. The ruling affirmed a 2016 decision by an Essex County judge who cited Barber’s failure to promptly disclose that his client had obtained privileged documents from the company. Judges Jose Fuentes, Harry Carroll and Greta Gooden Brown affirmed the decision May 23, rejecting the plaintiff’s claim that the defendant had waived any privilege for the documents. The appeals court also ruled that the judge below did not commit plain error by disqualifying Barber and his firm without holding an evidentiary hearing.