Whistleblower Lawyers in California
Occasionally employers and workplace management break state and federal laws or violate public corporation policies. When this happens, employees have a right to report these contraventions to external authority figures who can act against unlawful and unethical workplace activities. This right is safeguarded by laws that protect whistleblowers from workplace retaliation. The whistleblower law is designated to protect employees who initiate to uncover actions executed by management that can cause harm to employees or the public. If you or a loved one have been retaliated against or fired for informing the public and law enforcement about unlawful corporate activity, call Law Mart today for a free consultation.
What Can A Whistleblower Lawyer Do For You?
Enlisting the help of a whistleblower lawyer will help construct your whistleblower retaliation case so you have the best chance to enhance the success of your claim. A Law Mart whistleblower lawyers will help you with the following:
- Look into your claim, including accumulating evidence to determine if laws were violated when actions were initiated by your employer
- Distinquish the appropriate steps to follow and ensure that your claim is heard and won with the highest possible damages recovered
- Seek to ensure that the whistleblower complaint made against the Employer is filed with the suitable law enforcement agency
- Negotiate a settlement to sort out your claim before it reaches to litigation
- If a settlement can’t be achieved, our whistleblower lawyers will file a lawsuit against your employer on your behalf
Why Choose Law Mart for Your Whistleblower Attorney
No Win No Fee Policy
At Law Mart, we have a No Win No Fee guarantee. You don’t pay us anything if we don’t win your case.
Proven Track Record
Our whistleblower attorneys maintained its outstanding reputation of recovering hundreds of millions of dollars for its clients.
Experienced Racial Discrimination in the Workplace Attorneys
Our highly skilled and accomplished lawyers have over two decades of experience among them and are thoroughly dedicated to victims of racial discrimination in the workplace.
Satisfied Clientele
Our racial discrimination attorneys serve Southern & Northern California and have been given the highest ratings as seen in Yelp, AVVO, Google, and alike. Direct communication and superior customer service is what our firm is known for.
Multilingual Staff
The firm’s multilingual team also speaks Farsi, Spanish, Urdu, Arab, Hebrew, Pashto, and Dari. Our professional and gracious staff are pleased to answer any queries you may have.
Available 24/7
We are available 24/7 to give consultation over the phone and if our clients are unable to meet at our office, we are amenable to meet you at your convenience
What is a Whistleblower?
Under the California law, a whistleblower is a person, usually an employee, who uncovers unlawful, unethical, or unsafe activities which are conducted by a business. These activities can include fraud, workplace discrimination, employment law violations, environmental damages, and health or safety violations. This is generally initiated by reporting to the company itself, one of several government agencies responsible for enforcing public policy and laws related to the reported illegal or unethical activity, or the media
Whistleblower Claims That Law Mart Handles
Whistleblower claims can be extremely difficult due to the scenarios that may play out that give rise to an employee to come forward and announce an unlawful or unethical workplace activity. There are multiple activities that would warrant legal representation:
- If you were terminated for reporting unlawful or unethical signs at work.
- If you were punished for whistleblowing with reduced pay, hours, or benefits provided by the employer.
- If you were to proceed to report activity but were put a stop to from doing so by your employer under threat of termination or penalty.
- If you were prevented from filing a formal complaint within or outside of your corporation.
- If you endured any other form of adverse actions like libel, slander, or blacklisting which was an outcome in financial losses outside of the corporation.
What is Considered Whistleblower Retaliation?
The activities that are generally classified as whistleblower retaliation are the following:
- Wrongful termination
- Denying promotion / demotion
- Reduced pay
- Reduced hours
- Reduced benefits
- Reduced overtime
- Blacklisting
- Not hiring
- Intimidation / harassment
How Would I Know If I Have a Whistleblower Case?
You can prove age discrimination in the workplace by utilizing either one of these two legal theories: the disparate treatment theory and disparate impact theory.
What Is The Disparate Treatment Theory
If activity managed by or within a company is unlawful, all employees have a right to report such violation to someone internally or externally who can investigate those activities. Once that occurs, the reaction of the people in power will mostly determine if there is an applicable whistleblower retaliation claim. If the outcome is detrimental to the employment or wellbeing of the person reporting the unlawful, unethical, or unsafe activity, there are probable chances of a strong case to be made for retaliation against a whistleblower who conducted such activities.
What Disclosures Qualify for Whistleblower Protections
The line that separates things that qualify for whistleblower protections can be sometimes complex to navigate. There are several examples in which a person can report certain activities to help protect public interest. The line that qualifies a whistleblower protection falls short if the reported activities are insignificant or do not result in harm to the public. The disclosure of activities that are reported but protected usually include the following:
- Unlawful criminal activities that have been committed.
- Injustice conducted in the workplace.
- Malicious and even dangerous activities that may impact the public or workplace health and safety.
- Activities that cause damages to the environment and people
- Bribes that are allowed to sway the decision of someone with influence
- Fraudulent activity that benefits a company at the expense of public good
Will My Identity Be Confidential If I Become a Whistleblower?
The anonymity of the identity of the whistleblower is mainly dependent on whether the whistleblower has decided to file a complaint with or without their name attached to it. Usually, if the complaint has been filed anonymously, it is much tougher for an employer to retaliate so there likely won’t be negative consequences for filing an unidentified complaint. Moreover, if the unlawful activity that is being reported makes its way to a higher court, there is a chance that the whistleblower will need to make a public statement or testimonial in which their identity may be unraveled.
What Are The Laws That Protect Whistleblowers
Fortunately, whistleblower protection laws date back to the Civil War era. These original laws have altered to modern times to account for revision in federal and state laws. Majority of the employment laws that protect employees also protect them from retaliation against those that do not abide by those laws.
- Labor Code 1102.5 LC: Does not allow retaliation against employees who report labor law violations or help with an investigation into labor law violations.
- Labor Code 98.6 LC: Does not allow retaliation against employees that report pay violations.
- Labor Code 6310 LC: Does not allow retaliation against employees that report OSHA violations.
- Government Code 8547 GC: Does not allow retaliation against employees that report broken laws, environmental damages, gross misconduct or negligence, and violations of laws designed to protect the health and safety of the public.
- “Qui Tam” section of the California False Claims Act: Does not allow retaliation against employees that report fraud or other financial crimes.
- Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA): Does not allow retaliation against employees that report workplace discrimination or harassment.
- Whistleblower Protection Act of 1989: Does not allow retaliation against federal employees that report government waste, corruption, and other illegal activities.
Whistleblower Protections in California
The State of California laws outlined below provide several protections to employees that help illuminate unlawful activity in the workplace:
- The laws prohibit retaliation against whistleblowers that submit formal complaints internally or externally at the workplace.
- This protection is extended even to those acting on the employer’s behalf.
- The laws also authorize employees to recover from whistleblower retaliation.
- The laws also prohibit retaliation against employees who refuse to break the law as directed by an employer.
Whistleblower Incentive Programs
Because of the nature of whistleblowers and the benefit they accommodate to the public, incentives programs were formulated to uplift whistleblowers to expose unlawful activity conducted by employer.
- The California False Claims Act (CFCA) incentivizes whistleblowers that report activities that defraud the state of California. This includes any California state programs like Medical and Medicaid. This incentive program authorizes the whistleblowers to up to 50% of any damages that are recovered because of an investigation. This is similar to the federal False Claims Act that rewards up to 35% of recovered damages.
- The California Insurance Fraud Prevention Act (CIFPA) allows a whistleblower to file a lawsuit against a company committing insurance fraud. This incentive program allows any whistleblower to file a claim for the California Insurance Commissioner. If successful, the whistleblower can recoup up to 50% of recovered funds that are won in a lawsuit.
What is a Qui Tam Case?
An erroneous claim as a general rule refers to claims submitted to the government that reports fraud. Those cases are designated to recover tax money that was granted to a company due to fraudulent activities. When these claims are submitted by a whistleblower acting on behalf of a government agency, they are known as Qui Tam cases. In the event of these cases, the plaintiff is the whistleblower who brings civil action against those violating public policy or law.
California Whistleblower Damages
Victims of whistleblower retaliation are typically entitled to recoup any financial losses that they sustained from exposing their employer. These damages include the following:
- Back wages and reinstatement of original position after the termination occurred
- Lost wages that was a result from pay or hour cuts or demotion
- Penalties that the employer must pay for each violation conducted
What Is The Whistleblower Statute of Whistleblower Case?
See that there are several laws that protect against whistleblower retaliation, there is no set individual statute of limitations for these matters. Each law has its own filing deadline that usually initiates when the employee is made aware of an adverse action like wrongful termination. However, these laws have statute of limitations that can range from 30 days to up to 6 years and really depend on the agency in which the complaint has been filed. Most commonly, the law that pertains to whistleblower protections is the False Claims Act which has a statute of limitations of 3 years.
Contact Experienced Whistleblower Attorneys in California
If you or your loved one have experienced whistleblower retaliation or are considering becoming a victim of a whistleblower, it is viable that you speak with an experienced whistleblower attorney that can help navigate your case. This will help ensure that the proper steps are established, and that evidence is conserved to enhance the chances that your claim will be very successful. Call Law Mart today to schedule a consultation with an experienced Law Mart Lawyer.
Whistleblower Lawyer FAQs
This is really contingent on the size of the settlement but according to the California False Claims Act, a whistleblower can recover up to 50% of the damages obtained from the case. The average whistleblower award can be as high as $550,000 in most cases.
In California there are federal and state laws that protect whistleblowers by offering some of the strongest whistleblower protections available. Additionally, to the strongest protections, the state of California also offers some of the best incentives programs to become a whistleblower.
Whistleblowing have the option to report the violations of several laws which all have their own regulatory agency and subsequent regulations. Depending on the law that is violated, the statute of limitation can vary between 30 day and up to several years.
