California’s Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA) broadly describes two ways to categorize sexual harassment at the workplace. Under the Act, sexual harassment refers to: (a) unwelcome sexual advances or other types of physical, verbal or visual misconduct of a sexual nature; and/or (b) actions that create a hostile, offensive or intimidating workplace environment based […]
Several recent federal laws (some in response to criticisms of Wall Street) have strengthened the law protecting whistleblowers and reward them more richly. Those who “blow the whistle” on their employers face the risk of retaliation in any form from demotion to termination. The government and the public benefit from the actions of whistleblowers, and […]
In response to a string of highly publicized corporate accounting scandals, the U.S. Congress enacted the Public Company Reform and Investor Protection Act of 2002, commonly known as the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. This Act includes a new provision to protect whistleblowers by prohibiting retaliation against employees of publicly traded companies who report fraudulent activity. Specifically, publicly […]
Are you a whistleblower reporting health care fraud? Military defense contractor fraud? Pharmaceutical fraud? Mortgage loan fraud? Or other forms of government overpayment or unlawful behavior by government contractors or recipients of government funds? Federal and California laws create powerful rewards and protections to protect and encourage whistleblowers to continue to effectively report corporate wrongdoing […]
An employee who knows that his or her employer is defrauding the government can file a lawsuit to uncover the fraud, and may be entitled to a percentage of the government’s recovery. This type of lawsuit is known as a “qui tam” suit, and may also be referred to as a “false claims” action because […]
Collier V. Superior Court In Collier v. Superior Court, (1991) 228 Cal. App. 3d 1117, the plaintiff suspected co-workers were engaging in illegal activity on the job, including activities that violate laws against bribery, kickbacks, embezzlement, tax evasion, and possibly drug trafficking and money laundering. Id. at 1122. The plaintiff reported his suspicions to management on at […]
