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Whistleblower Retaliation and Wrongful Termination 05/25/2009
2 Comments
 

Few issues are more upsetting to an employer - especially to the manager who feels very powerful and who has been engaging in unlawful  or unethical practices for a while, than an employee who is trying to change his ways, especially if that employee threatens to or actually reports the conduct to the outside public agency.  Whistleblower retaliation is a claim that arises when the employer takes adverse action against an employee (including termination, transfer to a less desirable position, suspension, and demotion) because that employee complained to the outside entity about what he reasonable believed to be an unlawful practice by his employer. 

One significant power of whistleblower retaliation claims in California is that the aggrieved employee does not how to prove that the conduct he or she reported was actually illegal. All the employee has to show is that he reasonably believed that the conduct was illegal. Thus, for instance, if you are an accounting manager, and after reviewing the statements of the company you believe that an comingling of funds or embezzlement is going on at your company, and you report that conduct to the entity overseeing the integrity of financials, you are protected from retaliation, as your position allows you to reasonable conclude within the scope of your skills, knowledge and job duties, that an unlawful practice is taking place. If your employer retaliates against you by terminating your after reporting that conduct and later proves that the conduct you were worried about is perfectly lawful, the employer will still be liable for unlawful retaliation and wrongful termination.

 


Comments

gabriel hardy
12/08/2009 12:30

Was fired yesterday over the phone from d.a.v. I reported to the mngr about not getting breaks and the kitchen has cockroaches. I was fired for the said reason I talk on the phone excessively

Reply
Pat
08/17/2010 05:08

Wondering how effective whistle blower retaliation laws are, and whether or not they are commonly ignored.

If found to be effective, they should be extended to state and federal government and ethics complaints as well as to every professional code of ethics - as a rule of freedom of speech and to prevent endangerment for dissent.

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