Employees are hesitant to report their boss because of the perceived consequences of doing so. After all, employers are the ones who hold your paychecks, so workers are scared to be on their bad side.
Hence, California employment law has established a way to encourage employees to do the right thing and report potential wrongdoing.
So, if you report your boss to OSHA or the IRS for potentially illegal activity, you can't be punished for it. You can't be fired, demoted, suspended, harassed, or get pay cuts for reporting your boss. However, if your employer retaliates, you can file an employment claim with a California retaliation lawyer near you.
What You Need To Know About Whistleblower Retaliation In California
To file a retaliation claim in California, your case must fit the required components defined by employment law. This means your case should fit what can be described as an act of retaliation at work.
Here are the most crucial components that need to be present in your claim:
1. You Must Be Doing A Protected Activity
To establish whistleblower retaliation against an employer in accordance with California Labor Code Section 1102.5, the employee must provide evidence of participation in "protected activity." In most cases, protected activity refers to informing the authorities, the employer, managers, or supervisors about the business's illegal activity.
Other protected activities may include taking time off work, serving on the jury, filing an FMLA leave, etc. For our purposes, we'll discuss reporting your boss or employer to the authorities.
So, if you report your employer for potential OSHA violations, your boss cannot punish you for doing so. Additionally, even if your report is untrue, you still shouldn't be retaliated against. If you fully believe a violation is happening, then an employer still cannot retaliate against you.
Again, this policy makes employees less hesitant to report potentially illegal or dangerous activity. If you have endured harassment and adverse employment action because you became a whistleblower, consult with a California Whistleblower Retaliation Attorney ASAP.
2. Your Employer Responded With An Adverse Employment Action
The second component of a whistleblower retaliation claim is the employer subjecting the employee to an adverse employment action. Sometimes referred to as a "materiality test," the criteria used to assess whether the employer's wrongdoing qualifies as an adverse employment action.
If the adverse action has a material impact on the terms or conditions of the plaintiff's employment, it passes the materiality test. For example, these could be acts that significantly impact the employee's employment prospects or career advancements. Additionally, it can harm their job, pay rate, or any other advantages that materially alter the terms and conditions of the whistleblower's employment.
An employer may occasionally take minor actions that together constitute illegal whistleblower retaliation. An employer might, for instance, slightly reduce an employee's wages. However, while taken individually, each small deed might not qualify as an unlawful adverse employment action.
However, a court can determine that the adverse employment action aspect has been satisfied when looked at as a whole. You and your Los Angeles Whistleblower Retaliation Attorney can find evidence to help you prove the presence of adverse employment actions, no matter how subtle.
3. The Adverse Employment Action Is Directly Related To The Protected Activity
The last requirement for whistleblower retaliation under section 1102.5 is that the adverse employment action must be directly related to the protected activity. For example, your pay cut resulted directly from you reporting your boss to OSHA. If there were precluding circumstances that led to your pay cut, then your employer might argue that there is no relation—and, therefore, no retaliation.
Unfortunately, an employee sometimes finds it challenging to provide direct evidence to support a causal relationship.
For instance, a company will very rarely, if ever, inform a worker that their compensation or duties have changed as a result of making a whistleblower complaint. However, circumstantial evidence can be utilized to attain the same outcome, such as the timing of the adverse employment action.
Hence, gathering evidence to show the causality between your whistleblowing and the adverse employment action is crucial. Collect documents, emails, and messages to help your California labor lawyer build a strong retaliation claim.
Hire A California Whistleblower Retaliation Attorney Near Me
Have you experienced retaliation in the workplace? 1000Attorneys is a California State Bar Certified lawyer referral service that links clients with fitting California employment law attorneys.
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