Who can you turn to when your employer turns against you? In California, labor laws and whistleblower laws are there to protect employees who take legal action against unsafe and hostile work environments. Unfortunately, not all employers follow the rules when it comes to fair employment or even reasonable reactions to an employee who asks for better conditions. Instead of being glad that employees are looking out for themselves and others, sometimes you face retaliation instead.
California employment attorneys are in your corner when your workplace becomes a hostile environment. Whether you were brave enough to report an injury or didn’t realize that reporting a regulation violation would be met with hostility, you don’t have to face retaliation alone. You can get justice.
What Can a California Workplace Retaliation Attorney Do to Protect You and Seek Justice?
A California workplace retaliation attorney knows CA employment law inside and out. They know all the unique rights and nuances to be found in California labor law and how to defend your position in the company. If you have already left the company, you can move straight to suing the company for damages such as wrongful termination, lost wages, and the original malfeasance for which you were retaliated against.
At Eldessouky Law, we believe strongly in helping California employees receive fair treatment in the workplace and justice when an employer has acted unlawfully against them. Our skilled California employment lawyers are ready to ensure that your rights as an employee to a safe, respectful, and equal-opportunity workplace are protected.
To consult on your situation, contact our office at 714-409-8991 or fill out one of our contact forms online. We are ready to consult on your situation as soon as you need assistance.
Retaliation in the California Workplace Comes in Many Forms
If you are being retaliated against, the actions of your supervisor, colleagues, or even HR itself may take many forms which all can be considered illegal retaliation if they are particularly disadvantageous, unwarranted, and occur after a whistleblower incident.
- Harassment and Abuse
- Not Protected by HR
- Lost Wages
- Artificially Low Performance Reviews
- Changed Schedules
- Unwanted Tasks
- Opportunity Denial
- Targeted Policies
- Driven and Goaded to Resign
- Relocation and Reassignment
- Being Fired or Downsized
Blowing the Whistle: Why Employers Retaliate
Workplace retaliation is almost always the result of a whistleblower incident, or fear of one. Retaliation is usually an effort to either frighten an employee into not reporting something the employer is trying to hide or to punish them for already making the report. Just going to your manager or HR with a concern can trigger retaliation, and there are many different things an employer might be trying to cover up.
- Workplace injuries
- Unsafe Working Environments
- Ongoing Discrimination, Sexual Harassment, or Abusive Behaviors
- Preferential Treatment
- Regulation Violations
- Fraud and Other Illegal Activities
- Unethical Practices
These situations might be something you witness or observe, you may have experienced an unethical situation, or even have been asked to play a part. Retaliation often begins as soon as your employer realizes that you are a threat, before or after you make a report. However, you may observe attempts to bribe you or involve you in the unethical situation before retaliation measures begin.
California Whistleblower Law
In the state of California, whistleblowing is a sacred act that allows employees to protect themselves and others from dangerous or abusive working conditions. You have a protected right to report safety hazards, regulation violations, instances of abuse, and unethical or illegal practices. You have a right to keep on reporting these issues until the matter is resolved or your employer goes under trying to continue their illegal practices.
You have the right to speak out for your own protection and to defend the rights of others you see in unsafe or hostile working conditions.
Whistleblower laws also protect you from workplace retaliation by making it illegal for employers to take harmful or disadvantageous actions against you as a result of blowing the whistle – or threatening to do so. This also protects people who approach their boss or HR with a concern and face retaliation, even if you haven’t reported the company to external authorities.
How to Prove You Are Being Retaliated Against
One of the most important steps in getting justice for workplace retaliation is to prove that both whistleblowing occurred and that you are being retaliated against as a result. Some employers make their retaliation extremely obvious, but some are more subtle and attempt to hide retaliation behind falsified circumstances and even intimidating others to witness against you.
Fortunately, there are a few steps that anyone can take to improve their ability to prove that they are being retaliated against.
Document Your Whistleblower Action
First, document what you discovered, experienced, or reported that has caused a negative reaction with your employer. Gather all the concrete evidence that you can and store it in a private location that your employer can’t reach or affect. Then write down your experiences in detail with dates, times, and the people involved. Document when you encountered the situation, your actions, and what your employer did in response.
Get Every Instruction and Communication in Writing
Begin requesting that everything said to you come through email or printed memo. If your employer likes to deliver their less savory messages in person where it cannot be documented, insist that you can’t remember unless they send it by email, or send an email “confirming” their message or instructions after each conversation. This will create a paper trail of interactions, orders, and changes after the whistleblower incident.
Document Your Objection, Report, or Threat to Report
What did you do with the information or situation you encountered? Did you take it to HR? Have a chat with your manager? Were you approached after experiencing or witnessing something? Did you file a report, as your training taught you to do, or did you suggest a report should be filed before the retaliation began?
Document the situation, your response, and the sequence of events afterward. Pair concrete evidence with a detailed journal.
Request Permission to Record Meetings and Phonecalls
California is a two-party consent state when it comes to private video or audio recordings. This can make proving the content of private conversations difficult. However, you can ask for permission to record for your own notes, and you can create transcripts from these meetings to refresh your memory. You can also record any conversation that occurs in a public place, such as a restaurant, plaza, or other public venue.
Together, enough of this information will be admissible – if only to refresh your own memory – to help make a strong case.
Keep a Journal of Unethical and Retaliatory Behaviors
One of the best strategies for someone being harassed is to keep a journal. Write down every negative or threatening thing said to you, even if it was said in private with no paper trail to prove it. The more consistent and precise your notes are, the better evidence they can become. Especially if witnesses can be gathered that corroborate your account of the timeline and conversations.
Document Your Change in Working Conditions and Treatment
You should also journal every change in policy, from a change in your schedule to task reassignment to office relocation. Keep your journal fully detailed with dates, times, and the people involved in each incident of retaliation. If you are put i danger, denied opportunities, or even told that it would be better if you left, these are all important details to include.
Partner with a California Workplace Retaliation Attorney
Lastly, your best way to get justice and to hold your employer accountable for a retaliatory situation is with the help of a California workplace retaliation attorney. A lawyer skilled in California employment law can help you receive a compensatory settlement, protect your job and reputation, stop the unethical activities, and even prevent the same abusive situation from happening to others.
How Eldessouky Law Can Help You Fight Workplace Retaliation
Workplace retaliation is a way that employers can stack injustice on top of unethical behavior. Most employees who are retaliated against were only doing what they have been trained to do as responsible professionals, whether intervening in discrimination or reporting unsafe environments.
Eldessouky Law is a team of experienced California employment lawyers who are ready to take your case to take your case to trial. Because we do employment law on contingency, you don’t have to worry about legal fees until/unless we win your case. Our California workplace retaliation lawyers will do everything they can to get you the settlement that you deserve. As a result, we can also bring your employer’s unethical activities into the light and ensure that the same retaliation cannot happen to your coworkers and colleagues in the future.
If you have questions about your rights as an employee in California or wish to discuss your case confidentially with one of our experienced employment attorneys, contact our office at 714-409-8991 or fill out one of our contact forms online.
