Retaliation Claim

Employee Protections Under California Workplace Retaliation Laws

In California, workplace retaliation refers to the career damaging actions an employer may take in punishing an employee who complains about, reports or aides in the investigation of the neglect of employee rights or illegal activity.

California workplace retaliation laws protect you when reporting or participating in an investigation involving:

  • Workplace harassment
  • Sexual harassment in the workplace
  • Workplace discrimination
  • Unpaid wages and unpaid overtime
  • Workplace hazards or injuries in the workplace
  • Involvement in illegal activity and violation of any employee rights

Workplace retaliation is illegal whether the employee’s complaint was brought up to management or a larger entity, such as the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, whether the complaint ends up being “true” or not.

Workplace Retaliation Examples

Workplace retaliation can manifest itself as a variety of detrimental actions that range in severity. Examples of workplace retaliation include:

  • Being demoted
  • Being given an unsatisfactory job reference
  • Being inconveniently relocated
  • Being switched to a less desirable shift
  • Wrongful termination

If you feel you are experiencing acts of workplace retaliation, reach out to a retaliation lawyer as soon as possible. Issues of retaliation in the workplace are time sensitive, and how quickly you react can affect your ability to file a successful workplace retaliation lawsuit in California.

Speak with a retaliation lawyer today if you have questions regarding the California workplace retaliation laws or a wrongful termination lawsuit.

Proving Workplace Retaliation in California

To prove retaliation in the workplace, a worker must establish a correlation between the complaint of unlawful behavior and act of workplace retaliation in question. Providing a timeline of events is an effective strategy in proving direct correlation between your complaint and your employer’s repercussive measures.

California workplace retaliation law also takes into account the severity of consequences in retaliation in the workplace cases. The retaliation must have been severe enough for a reasonable person to have avoided raising the issue had the consequence been known in advance.

For example, if an employee in California reports an incident of sexual harassment in the workplace and later demoted, he or she may have thought twice before filing the complaint if they had known it would lead to their demotion.

Proving workplace retaliation can be difficult, because many employees are employed “at-will.” California at-will employment means workers do not have employment contracts. The at-will employer or employee can terminate the relationship at any time, for any reason. This is not to say that an at-will worker does not receive employee retaliation protection on the job. Every employee has protection from workplace retaliation under federal and California labor laws and the Whistleblower Protection Act.

What is the California Whistleblower Protection Act?

The California Whistleblower Act protects the workplace rights of employees who accuse their employer of committing illegal activities. It makes it unlawful for an employer to retaliate against an employee who it either knows or suspects to be involved in whistleblowing claims. The California Whistleblower Act also prohibits the enforcement of rules or regulations that prevent employees from working with government or police agencies, if the employee has reasonable cause to disclose a law violation.

What Federal Laws Offer California Whistleblower Protection?

A number of federal laws also protect whistleblowers and punish employees for illegal retaliation. Some of the common federal laws protecting employees include:

  • The Whistleblower Protection Act (WPA)
  • The Sarbanes-Oxley Act
  • The Occupational Safety and Health Act

What Damages are Available in California Wrongful Termination Cases?

California wrongful termination laws offer whistleblowers three types of damages in the case of workplace retaliation or wrongful termination:

  • Economic Damages that include lost wages, lost job opportunities and lost benefits
  • Non-Economic Damages includes aspects of emotional distress bought on by workplace retaliation
  • Punitive Damages punish the employer for their unlawful actions to deter a similar situation in the future

You can trust our employment attorneys to defend your career and financial future by asserting your California workplace retaliation rights if you experienced workplace retaliation or wrongful termination. Reach out to a retaliation lawyer for a free consultation today to take actions to defend your future opportunities.

Contact Our Employment Law Firm Before Blowing the Whistle

If you feel your employer is engaged in illegal activities, meet with our employment attorneys before blowing the whistle to assert your employee rights. Having legal counsel from the outset may even help to prevent workplace retaliation altogether.

If you have already alerted authorities, it is never too late to seek out legal advice to prevent retaliation or to remedy a retaliatory action if it has already taken place. Reach out to a retaliation lawyer with experience handling whistleblowing cases to schedule a free consultation to learn more about your rights under federal and California Whistleblower Protection Act laws.