Though various laws give whistleblowers the right to speak out against their employers, you and your California business can successfully defend against a whistleblower complaint or prevent one from being made by taking several steps and precautions. For more information on how you may defend yourself against a whistleblower complaint in California, please continue reading, then contact an experienced Los Angeles whistleblower defense attorney today. Here are some questions you may have:
Which laws protect whistleblowers and which ones incentivize them?
Just some of the laws that are known to both protect whistleblowers and incentivize whistleblowing both federally and in the state of California include the False Claims Act, the Dodd-Frank Act, and Section 11(c) of the Occupational Safety and Health Act.
Is it best practice to encourage internal reporting?
Employers can’t use confidentiality or non-disclosure agreements to prevent reporting, because courts will not enforce these methods. However, you can create procedures that encourage internal reporting. As long as your employees agree that this is a fair and valid way of dealing with internal issues, it can save you and your company a great deal of trouble down the line.
Just remember that if you employ internal reporting procedures, you must give them legitimacy by conducting a legitimate, unbiased internal investigation, even if it involves independent outside counsel. You should use this process to uncover and address any violations or else your employee will take their information to law enforcement.
What constitutes retaliation in a California whistleblower complaint?
You should understand that though firing or terminating a whistleblower can very well be considered retaliatory, the state of California also considers a wide range of other behaviors retaliatory, such as demoting, suspending, or harassing a whistleblower. You should note that even threatening to fire or suspend an employee can count as retaliation and be valid grounds for a lawsuit against you and your company.
What defense could you use in a whistleblower complaint?
First of all, you should reach out to a skilled Los Angeles County, California employment attorney to discuss your available options. As you might have gleaned from previous sections, one of the most effective defenses involves proving that the whistleblower has an ulterior motive. Besides securing financial compensation, an unscrupulous worker may abuse this system to avoid an adverse employment action. You should not let misconstrued, spurious or insufficient evidence ruin your career, so please give us a call today.
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