|
Retaliation
Employees are protected from employer retaliation by statute and by common law. Many state and federal statutes contain provisions that protect employees who utilize the particular law. For example, employees are protected against retaliation for filing claims for work injuries under the California Workers Compensation law and for filing claims for unpaid wages and overtime under state and federal wage and hour laws. Provisions of the education code, health and welfare code and other laws provide protection to public sector employees. Protection for employees who report employer fraud against the state or federal government is available and California has a broad "whistleblower protection act" that protects private sector employees who report illegal activity to police enforcement and administrative agencies.
The common law protects employees against employer violations of public policy as it is defined in state and federal law. This means that if an employee refuses to violate almost any state or federal law or regulation, or reports or threatens to report the employer for violating it, the employer may not retaliate against the employee by firing them or taking other adverse action against them. These public policy claims, also known as Tameny claims, are very powerful because they provide for unlimited compensatory and punitive damages.
To be a "whistleblower" and be protected, the employee must lodge a complaint, or threaten to complain, about illegal activity by the employer. If there is no complaint, there can be no retaliation. Most employees are justifiably afraid to report illegal activities of their employers precisely because they will probably suffer retaliation in some form. Nonetheless, employees can best protect themselves by complaining early and often. Good employers will heed their complaints and take corrective action, and will protect them from retaliation. Bad employers who ignore the complaints and who retaliate will be subject to legal action if the employee has documented his or her complaints.
|
