The California Supreme Court has held that an employee who makes a whistleblower complaint to his or her employer may bring a retaliation claim under the whistleblower statute (California Labor Code § 1102.5(b)) even if the subject of the complaint was already known. Previous case law held that an employee whistleblower complaint regarding an alleged violation of the law that was already known to the employer that received the complaint was not protected by law. It is now clear, however, that employers may not retaliate against an employee who has made a whistleblower complaint, regardless of whether the employer or agency already had knowledge or information about the alleged violation.
The Court's decision in People ex rel. Garcia-Brower v. Kolla's, Inc (May 22, 2023) arose from a complaint made by a bartender to her employer that she had not been paid wages owed to her for three shifts she had worked at Kolla's Inc., a nightclub in Orange County, California. Upon receiving the complaint, the owner of the nightclub responded by threatening to report the employee to immigration authorities, terminating her employment, and telling her never to return to the nightclub. The employee then filed a complaint against the nightclub with the California Department of Labor Standards Enforcement (DLSE), and the DLSE concluded that the nightclub had unlawfully retaliated against the employee. When the nightclub refused to pay damages, the California Labor Commissioner sued for...
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