Do I Have a Whistleblower Claim?

Answer:

I’m proud of the fact that our firm is associated with some of the landmark cases in California law regarding whistleblowers. In a recent case, Hawkins v. City of Los Angeles, the court of appeals affirmed a judgment on behalf of two of our clients, Todd Hawkins and Hyung Kim, who worked for the city of Los Angeles and who blew the whistle to what they believe was unlawful conduct. For blowing the whistle, they were terminated. We litigated the case for over a year, then ultimately went to a jury trial in the city of Los Angeles, and the jury found for our clients.

As an attorney practicing employment law in California, we have the benefit of being able to represent employees under various statutory frameworks, sometimes multiple statutory frameworks. California law protects employees from raising issues of what they believe is unlawful conduct and unsafe conduct. California law protects employees from going to governmental agencies and what we’d call “blow the whistle,” to say that the employee is being subjected to conduct that they believe is unlawful or that the employer is engaged in conduct that is unlawful. California law protects not only blowing the whistle externally to a governmental agency, but also anyone complaining internally. If you complain to somebody within the company about what conduct you believe is unlawful, the statute is going to protect you, as long as you complain to somebody with the company that has the power to investigate those claims. Understand that those laws are there to protect an employee because an employer’s reaction to you pointing out conduct that you believe is unlawful is typically swift and is very damaging.

A lot of times, once the employer realizes that what you’re complaining about is unlawful conduct, employees are subjected to retaliation, sometimes up to and including termination. If you have concerns that your employer is engaging in unlawful conduct, whether that unlawful conduct is a violation of federal, state, or local law, or if you believe that you’re being subjected to conduct that you feel is a safety hazard, either for yourself or the general public, it’s important for you to understand what the next step should be. If you’ve been retaliated against for making complaints of unlawful conduct or unsafe conduct, understand that you have rights. It’s important that you find a firm that can identify what rights you have, what agencies you need to go to prior to filing a lawsuit, and what those timelines are. If I can answer any of those questions, please feel free to give us a call here at the firm.