Santa Monica Whistleblower Retaliation Lawyer

Santa Monica, CA, Whistleblower Retaliation Attorney

Blowing the whistle on your employer can be a brave decision to make. It could cost you your job to report illegal or suspicious behavior to the proper authorities, especially if your employer makes the poor, illegal decision to retaliate against you. Thankfully, California’s generous labor laws include protection for whistleblowers. If you have been retaliated against by your employer for whistleblowing, contact a Santa Monica whistleblower retaliation lawyer today.

What Is Whistleblowing?

Whistleblowing is the intentional act of reporting employer misconduct to the proper authorities. Anyone who takes it upon themselves to gather evidence of improper behavior and brings it to a higher authority with the hopes of stopping said behavior is considered a whistleblower. Whistleblowers are welcome to testify in court about their discovery, especially if the activity involves:

• A violation of a state or federal law.
• A violation or noncompliance with local, state, or federal regulations.
• A violation of workplace safety, health statutes, or working conditions.

Common Reasons for Whistleblowing

If you witness any kind of wrongdoing in your workplace and report it to authorities above your employer, you are considered a whistleblower. There are many different reasons that an employee could have to report their employer to authorities. Here are some of the more common reasons employees in Santa Monica may have for whistleblowing:

• Corruption: Corruption cases are very broad and contain a multitude of different illegal activities. Exposing corruption can be very dangerous, especially if that corruption stretches across multiple companies, law enforcement agencies, or government entities. Corruption includes bribery, embezzlement, and kickbacks, among other illegal activities.
• Discrimination: Anyone who witnesses discrimination in the workplace should report it right away. Sometimes, the people who do report it are punished for trying to do the right thing, which goes against California’s state law when it comes to retaliation. Racial, gender, age, or religious discrimination are all inappropriate workplace behaviors and should be reported if ever witnessed.
• Fraud: Any kind of illegal activity or criminal deception that is done for financial gain or some other personal benefit is considered fraud. Fraud is a rampant crime that is committed in all sorts of different fields, from business and education to academia and government.
  Fraud is a very serious crime. If you ever uncover evidence of fraud being committed by your employer, take careful precautions and consider reporting it to the proper authorities.
• Sexual Harassment: In a number of workplaces, incidents of sexual harassment may not be properly reported. Laws and policies in place to protect against sexual harassment in the workplace are often under-enforced or not enforced at all, resulting in rampant poor behavior in some workplaces. If you ever witness any form of sexual harassment or sexual assault, you should consider reporting it immediately.

Workplace Retaliation

The most common method of punishment from an employer for an employee’s act of whistleblowing is simple retaliation. Despite the fact that retaliatory action against whistleblowing employees is illegal in California, many employers go through with it anyway, but in subtler ways and without calling it retaliation. While some employers may fire the whistleblower, other methods of retaliation include:

• A reduction in pay.
• Cutting the employee’s hours.
• A sudden and undeserved demotion.
• Blacklisting in the employee’s industry.

FAQs

Q: What Is the Average Settlement for a Whistleblower Retaliation?

A: There is no real average settlement for a whistleblower retaliation case, as every case is very different. You have to take into account emotional distress, loss of job opportunities, possible punitive damages, and other factors relevant to each specific case. According to the National Whistleblower Center, a rough average estimate is $447,830.

In less complex cases, that number could be considerably less. In more complex cases, that number could rise to well over $1 million. It all depends on the individual case.

Q: How Do You Prove Whistleblower Retaliation?

A: In order to prove whistleblower retaliation under California labor laws, you have to show causation above all else. You have to prove a link between the whistleblowing act that you performed and the adverse action your employer has taken against you since.

This adverse action is largely termination of your employment, but it can be other retaliatory behaviors as well. The employee must prove that they engaged in protected activity by disclosing wrongdoing to the proper authorities.

Q: What Is the Statute of Limitations for Whistleblowers in California?

A: The statute of limitations for whistleblowers in California varies depending on the illegal action being reported. For general whistleblower protection, you have three years to file a suit in California Superior Court. For reporting labor law violations, you have six months to lodge a complaint with the California Labor Commission or three years for a claim. For health and safety complaints, it takes six months to lodge a complaint and three years for a claim.

Q: What Are Whistleblowers Not Protected From?

A: Whistleblowers are not protected when disclosing classified information to unauthorized personnel, even if they believe the information is valid evidence of wrongdoing. A protected disclosure includes any disclosure of information to the proper authorities that involves evidence of law violations, mismanagement of funds, abuse of authority, or danger to the public.

If you divulge classified information to the wrong person, you are not protected by whistleblower laws and may face penalties.

Contact a Whistleblower Retaliation Attorney Today

If you have divulged important, possibly classified information about your employer’s wrongful or illegal activities to the proper authorities, you have already done the right thing. The time has come now to protect yourself from the consequences. Your employer may retaliate against you in some capacity, from terminating your employment to cutting your hours or docking your pay. Regardless of that action, you are protected under California labor laws.

At the Law Offices of Miguel S. Ramirez, we want to protect the rights of employees. We are prepared to help you fight against the retaliatory actions undertaken by your employer. Contact us to schedule a consultation as soon as you can, and we can start building your case together.