California employees often face unlawful retaliatory actions by their employer after engaging in perfectly lawful and protected activities.
Employees are often punished or targeted by the employer for speaking out against discrimination or unlawful policies or practices in the workplace.
The employer’s retaliation can be explicit or, as is more often the case, inferred from the employer’s conduct.
The California Labor Code defends the rights of California employees to speak out against discrimination, harassment or retaliation, to participate in workplace investigations, or to “blow the whistle” on illegal activity. (Individuals who speaks out against a company’s illegal activity, unsafe work conditions or violation of employee rights are often referred to as a “whistleblower.”)
California law ensures that employees can rightfully stand up for themselves and others and engage in lawful whistleblowing without the fear of being terminated, skipped over for promotion, transferred to unfavorable shifts or locations, performance managed or subject to increased scrutiny.
California law also has a special provision under the Health and Safety Code to protect California healthcare providers and health facility staff from retaliation after asserting complaints of patient safety. This protection exists to encourage healthcare professionals to report unsafe patient care and conditions.
Common types of prohibited actions include discharge, demotion, suspension, unfavorable changes in the terms and conditions of employment or contract, or even the threat of any of these actions.
Retaliation by an employer can be obvious, such as a prompt termination, or be much more subtle in smaller actions taken over time. If you make a complaint and your employer responds in a way that affects you adversely – it may be a sign of retaliation.
Some common types of retaliation in the workplace include: demotion, denial of training or unwarranted disciplinary actions/negative performance reviews, exclusion from meetings or projects you previously were involved with, failure to be considered for a promotion, increased workload, compensation reduction, shift reassignment, or wrongful termination.
If any of these employer actions have happened to you and you think it’s in retaliation for something you did, it is important to speak with an attorney about your employer’s conduct to ensure your rights are protected.
There are steps you can take to protect yourself while still employed, so it is important that you reach out as soon as possible to discuss the retaliation.
There are various statutes that protect employees from retaliation in the workplace, but most provide a number of remedies for proven violations, including back pay, front pay, reinstatement, noneconomic damages for emotional distress and/or physical injury and sickness, attorneys’ fees and costs, or punitive damages to deter the employer from engaging in similar conduct in the future.
Ashley Davenport represents employees throughout Southern California, including Los Angeles, San Bernardino, Orange, Riverside and San Diego counties.
If you believe that your company has retaliated against you for complaining of unlawful conduct or asserting your rights, contact Ashley for a free evaluation of your case.
Ashley will aggressively pursue your clients, while focusing on your individual needs and claims.
I am happy to take cases involving retaliation to trial if employers do not adequately compensate employees for the wrongs committed.
Every employee deserves to work in a safe and productive work environment without fear of retaliation for speaking up to his or her employer regarding unlawful conduct.
If you’ve been subject to harassment, discrimination or retaliation at work, call Ashley Davenport at 310-504-3989 for a free consultation to discuss your potential claims.