Whistleblowers are given a lot of protection by law. This encourages people with good faith reasons to report a company or a business for potentially illegal activity.
However, not every company that's getting reported to the authorities will willingly admit to doing something wrong. In some cases, they might even try to discredit whistleblowers to protect their interests.
If the whistleblower is an employee, they might try to punish them through adverse employment actions like firing, demotion, pay cuts, and other forms of workplace retaliation. But on the other hand, they might also deny the retaliation claim and try to explain it away as something else.
Hence, you want to preserve your whistleblower retaliation claim to protect your job, work prospects, income, and emotional well-being. Here's what our California whistleblower retaliation attorneys say about it:
How To Preserve Your Whistleblower Retaliation Claim In California
Employees are often afraid of "blowing the whistle" because of the perceived consequences they might face.
What Is Whistleblower Retaliation In California?
Retaliation is defined as employers doing adverse employment actions to punish employees for doing a protected action. As it stands, becoming a whistleblower or reporting potential illegal activity is considered a protected activity.
This means you have the right to do so and cannot be punished or persuaded to do otherwise.
These "punishments" or adverse employment actions can include (but are not limited to) the following:
- Wrongful termination
- Unjustified reduction of pay
- Harassment or bullying
- Demotions and suspensions
- Deliberately excluding target employees from the rest of the company
- Refusing to pay overtime
If you've faced any adverse employment action because of your whistleblower status, you should contact a California whistleblower retaliation lawyer to help you.
How To Preserve Your Workplace Retaliation Claim In California
While not necessary, each of these things will be useful to the person looking into your complaint:
- Documentation pertaining to any new complaints, such as those with OSHA or another enforcement agency addressing safety, health, or other legally protected complaints
- Copies of all pertinent, legally acquired documents, including emails, phone records, text messages, activity logs, meeting notes, work orders, letters, and memos linked to your complaint.
- Copies of any letters of employment or termination.
- Your employee handbook or the collective bargaining agreement.
- Copies of any disciplinary actions you have faced while working for the company.
- A list of the names and contact information for potential witnesses supporting your claims. Describe briefly what you think each witness may know in your response.
- The individuals' names, positions held, and contact information of who handled the paperwork for the in question personnel decision.
- Copies of records from previous disputes between you and the business (such as EEOC complaints or lawsuits).
Contact a California whistleblower retaliation lawyer near you to ensure you're protected from further adverse employment actions.
What If I'm Wrong About The Report?
Whistleblowers with good faith reason to report their employers cannot be fired or retaliated against. But, again, this encourages whistleblowers to approach the authorities as soon as they witness or suspect possible illegal activity.
One of the biggest concerns is that your employer might accuse you of making bad faith or malicious reports. After all, employers do have the option to sue possible malicious individuals who file false reports.
If you're being targeted for such, consider contacting a prescreened California whistleblower retaliation lawyer.
Find A Prescreened Whistleblower Retaliation Attorney In California!
1000Attorneys is one of the few lawyer referral agencies certified by the California State Bar. In addition, we only give referrals to prescreened California whistleblower retaliation lawyers, so you know you're getting referred to trusted, experienced, and fitting lawyers.
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