California workers who report violations of the law to their supervisors can qualify for whistleblower protections, even if the employer already knew about the violations, the California Supreme Court recently ruled.
The court "came to the common-sense conclusion that the Legislature meant what it said when it passed a law protecting people who tell their employers about corporate misconduct," said Steve Hasegawa, an attorney with Phillips & Cohen in San Francisco. "There was nothing in the statute suggesting that whistleblower protections should depend upon whether the person who the whistleblower tells already knew of the misconduct."
The purpose of California's whistleblower law is "to protect workers, to encourage disclosure, and to promote compliance with employment-related laws and regulations," the court said. An employee "may reasonably feel more willing to approach an employer about workplace safety hazards, unpaid wages, or overtime violations knowing that his or her co-workers were also disclosing the same unlawful activity. An employer may also be more likely to ameliorate violations, and less able to sweep them under the rug, when multiple employees have disclosed the same wrongdoing."
Background
California law prohibits employers from retaliating against workers who report violations of local, state or federal laws. The reporting can be to a government agency or to a corporate manager who has the authority to investigate, discover or correct the...
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