Retaliation

 Pursuant to California Labor Code Section 1102.5 workers are protected against retaliation for reporting illegal activities internally to an employer or for reporting to an outside government agency. This reflects amendments to our Labor Code Section 1102.5 which specifies that employees no longer have to report to an outside government agency to be protected from retaliation. Current law states that as long as an employee reports an employer’s illegal activities to a person with authority over the employee or another employee who has the authority to investigate, discover, or correct the violation or noncompliance, that employee is protected from retaliation and wrongful termination.

Labor Code 1102.5 also protects employees who refuse to engage in illegal conduct their employer is asking them to perform. This is a key point to 1102.5 since it may be difficult for employees to come forward with criminal information against their employer where the employee may also be prosecuted for engaging in an illegal activity. In other words, the employee can always refuse to act illegally, and if that employer fires the employee in retaliation, the employee can sue for lost wages and other damages.

Labor Code Section 1102.5’s protections are broad and go beyond merely reporting wage or Labor Code violations (as are protected under Labor Code Section 98.6). As long as the illegal activity falls under a code section or provision of the law the employee can point to, the employee is still protected under Labor Code 1102.5.

Since each case is individual, call us today for a case evaluationPlease contact us so that we can evaluate your case.

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(The above is only meant for informative purposes and is not legal advice).