Retaliation & Whistleblower Claims

Speaking up is protected.

California employees are punished far too often for doing something perfectly lawful: speaking out or opposing unlawful conduct in the workplace. Many California statutes defend your right to complain about discrimination or harassment, participate in workplace investigations, and blow the whistle on illegal activity. Healthcare workers get an extra layer of protection under the Health and Safety Code for reporting patient-safety concerns, because the law wants unsafe care reported, not hidden.

If your employer punished you for any of the following, you may have a retaliation claim:

• Reporting or opposing discrimination or harassment
• Complaining about unpaid wages, overtime, or missed breaks
• Reporting unlawful conduct, unsafe work conditions, or patient-safety concerns
• Refusing to participate in something illegal
• Blowing the whistle on fraud, including fraud against the government
• Taking protected medical, family, or pregnancy leave

What retaliation looks like

Sometimes it is a termination that arrives suspiciously soon after a complaint. More often it is quieter and builds over time: demotion, denied training, unwarranted discipline or a sudden string of negative reviews, exclusion from meetings and projects you used to run, being passed over for promotion, increased workload, reduced pay, or an unwanted shift or location change. Even the threat of these actions can cross the line. If you complained and your employer responded in a way that hurt you, that timing matters, and Ashley knows how to prove it.

What you can recover

Proven retaliation claims can bring back pay, front pay, reinstatement, damages for emotional distress, attorney’s fees and costs, and in some cases punitive damages to deter the employer from doing it to anyone else.

Results in this area

Retaliation is where Davenport Law has delivered some of its largest recoveries: a $5.02 million jury verdict in a disability discrimination and retaliation case, a $4,000,000 settlement for two executives, and a $400,000 settlement for an employee fired after complaints of harassment and retaliation. Ashley also secured a $6.9 million settlement in a retaliation claim on behalf of the government.

Keep records: when you complained, to whom, and what changed afterward. There are also steps you can take to protect yourself while still employed, so reach out as soon as possible.