Whistleblowing and Retaliation: Legal Protections and Challenges

At Romero Law, our trusted employment law attorneys in Pasadena know that all California whistleblowers have significant federal and state rights that can help protect them and their jobs.

If you had the courage to speak out against illegal, immoral, unsafe, or fraudulent activity in the workplace, the federal Whistleblower Protection Act and the California Whistleblower Protection Act protect you from employer retaliation.

Even with these protections, whistleblowers face significant challenges when they return to work. Here, we discuss some of those challenges and how we can help California employees overcome these obstacles.

What are the Challenges Associated with Whistleblowing in California Workplaces?

One of the first challenges of whistleblowing — which inherently impacts the employee’s future treatment in the workplace — is the lengthy legal process.

While it unfolds, the employee who reported the misconduct may still be employed at the exact place where they reported the illegal, immoral, unsafe, or fraudulent activity. This is where things become challenging.

Common challenges California whistleblowers face may include, but are not limited to:

• Compromised trust within the organization, including losing respect from coworkers, management, and other third parties.
• Emotional distress from being isolated and bullied while executing day-to-day duties upon return to work.
• Future employability is negatively impacted by assumptions that the employee cannot be trusted.
• Broken chain of command implies supervisors or other company leaders do not take the message seriously, which degrades respect for management.

While most of these instances may qualify as whistleblower retaliation and help support a legal claim, direct retaliation from your employer is unlawful and may include, but is not limited to:

• Actions intended to stop employees from exercising their rights.
• Denial of promotion.
• Threatening messages to the employee and others.
• Unjustified negative performance evaluations.
• Unjustified negative references.
• Unwarranted reprimands.

Contact Our Skilled Employment Law Attorneys to Schedule a Free Consultation Today

If you are being retaliated against at work for reporting your employer’s unlawful actions or activity, contact our experienced Los Angeles County employment law attorneys to discuss your unique workplace circumstances today.

Our employment law firm and bilingual staff offer services in both English and Spanish and are available now to discuss your case during a free consultation by calling (626)-396-9900 or contacting us online.