Could your reporting of protected activity have caused your termination of employment?
CALIFORNIA WHISTLE BLOWER LAWYER
California whistle blowers laws pertain to:
• the employee must complain about something that is illegal, or they reasonably suspect is illegal;
• the illegal conduct must effect society at large opposed to merely internal issues in the company;
• the complaint must be made to a supervisor or manager;
• the employer must take an adverse employment action against the employee due to the complaint.
The following types of complaints are complaints about violations of the law that create wrongful termination and make an employee a whistle blower:
• An actual report to a government agency (the employer must learn of)
• A complaint that a statute is being violated
• A complaint about any form of discrimination or harassment based upon age, disability, protected medical condition, national origin, or race
• A refusal to engage in unlawful or unhealthy work requests of the employer
• A refusal to testify falsely
• A refusal to desist in using a leave of absence law created by a statutory right
Both direct and circumstantial evidence may be used to prove causation, Colarossi v. Cory, 97 Cal.App.4th 1142, 1152, 119 Cal.Rptr.2d 131 (2002). CACI 2430 only requires that the violation of public policy was a "motivating factor." An employer is liable for wrongful termination even if the termination was only partially motivated by an illegal reason.
Anheuser-Busch, 7 Cal.4th 1238, 1256, 32 Cal.Rptr.2d 223, 235 (1994). Moreover, wrongful termination can be based upon an employee checking on and trying to report possible illegal conduct to company officials, Collier v. Sup. Crt. 228 Cal.App.3d 1117, 1121, 279 Cal.Rptr. 453 (1991). "Retaliation by an employer when an employee seeks to further...public policy by responsibly reporting suspicions of illegal conduct to the employer seriously impairs the public interest" and is enough for wrongful termination, at 1127, 458. [A]n employee need not provide an actual violation of the law; it suffices if the employer fired him for reporting his 'reasonably based suspicions' of illegal activity, Green v. Ralee Eng. Co. 19 Cal.4th 66, 87, 78 Cal.Rptr.2d 16 , 29 (1998) referencing Collier, 1125.
https://www.bakersfieldlaborattorney.com/practice-areas/whistle-blower
https://www.reddit.com/r/greatclips/comments/cwsbit/psa_great_clips_will_refuse_to_serve_you_if_you/
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