Certain groups of people have special protections under California and federal laws. The law establishes numerous characteristics that a command special consideration from others or should not influence decisions about opportunities, such as whether or not to rent to a tenant or offer a professional a job.
Employees are technically one of the protected groups under California state statutes. They have certain rights and protections outlined in state law. The numerous protections they have include the right to act as whistleblowers. In certain circumstances, workers who act as whistleblowers have legal protection from employer retaliation. They shouldn’t have to worry about losing their jobs for acting as a whistleblower.
What behaviors make workers whistleblowers?
Reporting concerns internally or externally
Speaking up about concerning company practices is the basic behavior that constitutes whistleblowing. They may act out of concern about becoming implicated in criminal activity or out of fear that company practices could lead to injuries.
In some cases, workers may notice that an employer does not comply with safety regulations. Other times, they may become aware of violations of state or federal laws. The employee may then make the difficult decision to address that misconduct for their protection and the well-being of other employees.
Some whistleblowers file internal reports or complaints about safety issues or illegal activities. Billing or coding specialists working for a hospital might sound the alarm within the company if they notice regular violations of the False Claims Act, for example.
Other times, workers become whistleblowers by reporting matters to regulatory authorities. They may have already attempted to address the matter internally or believe that the company is aware and unwilling to change its practices.
In some cases, such as the aforementioned violation of the False Claims Act by a medical business, a whistleblower might even file a lawsuit against their employer on behalf of the government. Whistleblowers typically should not have to worry about losing their jobs or facing other types of career consequences for speaking up about unsafe or illegal company practices.
Those planning to act as whistleblowers and those penalized for doing so may need help holding the companies that employ/employed them accountable. Retaliation against whistleblowers may warrant a lawsuit that could result in a worker regaining their job and/or obtaining financial compensation.