Many individuals who have been wrongly terminated from their jobs are unsure of whether they have a case to hold their employer accountable. However, if your employer terminated you for reporting working conditions, you may have grounds for a case. The Los Angeles whistleblower lawyer with Sparrow Law Group is here to help you identify the type of evidence you have that can prove a whistleblower case in California.
Show You Qualify as a Whistleblower in California
Most whistleblower cases in California are retaliation cases, but not all retaliation cases qualify for protections under the Whistleblower Protection Act. To show that you are pursuing a lawsuit or settlement as a whistleblower, you must show that you were retaliated against for making a good-faith report regarding violations such as:
- Unsafe working conditions
- Labor law
- Civil rights
- Code
- Americans with Disability Act
In some circumstances, you may also face whistleblower protections when you refuse to engage in behaviors that violate laws, regulations, or ethical constraints.
Indicators that Your Employer is Retaliating
It can be difficult to determine whether your employer is truly retaliating against you for reporting good faith concerns. Though you should be aware of any negative employment action against you in the time following your report, or your employer’s discovery of your report. These actions may include:
- Termination
- Demotion or a less favorable schedule adjustment
- Sudden micromanaging or your supervisor becomes hypercritical of your work compared to before
- An unexpectedly bad performance review
- Social isolation
- Blacklisting to prevent employment by other agencies in your industry
Documenting these changes or negative exchanges may provide evidence that is integral to making a convincing argument. You may document these occurrences by writing down the date, time, and what happened, as well as keeping communication through e-mail or writing as much as possible.
Creating the Foundation of Your Case
The foundation of a strong whistle-blower case is gathering and presenting the information in a way that establishes a timeline to support retaliation of a protected event. This means we want to make sure we can clearly present that you engage in the protected behavior of reporting safety or regulatory concerns.
Following evidence of your report, we will provide evidence that your employer knew of the report, whether that is through records that clearly show your name, or other documents or communication that may make it obvious that you filed the report. Next, we must show evidence of their retaliation, which is often one or more of the instances mentioned above.
Evidence that Strengthens Your Case
We can strengthen your case and claim against your employer by pulling employee records to show that you did not have any disciplinary or quality-of-work issues in the period preceding the report, and by marking their discovery as the point at which their evaluation of your work changed.
We may also rely upon other witnesses, maybe supervisors or coworkers who heard about what was going on, or those who can attest to your quality of work and reliability.
Ultimately, the evidence that supports your case will be unique to your case, but you can learn more about what may help by speaking with one of the employment attorneys with Sparrow Law Group.