News & Analysis as of

Employer Liability Issues Labor Code Whistleblowers

CDF Labor Law LLP

Whistleblower Loses Fee Award Despite Jury Finding: Court Clarifies “Successful Action” Standard Under Labor Code Section 1102.5

CDF Labor Law LLP on

Retaliation Verdict Reversed Where Plaintiff Obtained No Relief - Can an employee prove retaliation at trial yet still recover nothing – not even attorney’s fees? According to a recent decision from the California Court of...more

Troutman Pepper Locke

Labor and Employment Developments in California in 2025

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California often finds itself at the forefront of labor and employment law, with changes affecting employers each year. This year is no different. In 2025, employers can expect a variety of impactful changes to the...more

Faegre Drinker Biddle & Reath LLP

California Supreme Court: Whistleblower Statute Protects Employees Who Disclose Allegedly Unlawful Conduct Even When it is Already...

Recently, the California Supreme Court ruled in The People ex rel. Lilia Garcia-Brower v. Kolla’s Inc. that California’s whistleblower protection statute (Labor Code § 1102.5) protects employees who disclose unlawful conduct,...more

Davis Wright Tremaine LLP

California Supreme Court Finds Employee Disclosure of Already Known Unlawful Activity Protected by Whistleblower Statute

In a decision issued on May 22, 2023, the California Supreme Court sided with the state’s labor commissioner and held that the state’s whistleblower statute (Labor Code § 1102.5(b)) protects employees who disclose unlawful...more

CDF Labor Law LLP

California Supreme Court Broadens Whistleblower Protection for Employees

CDF Labor Law LLP on

California Labor Code Section 1102.5(b) prohibits employers from retaliating against “whistleblowing” employees for disclosing information about suspected violations of law to a person with authority over the employee or...more

Morgan Lewis

California Supreme Court Expands Scope of Whistleblower Protections

Morgan Lewis on

The California Supreme Court issued its unanimous decision on May 22, 2023 in People ex rel. Garcia-Brower v. Kolla’s, Inc., which expanded the definition of “disclose” under California Labor Code Section 1102.5. The court...more

Ogletree, Deakins, Nash, Smoak & Stewart,...

California Supreme Court Extends Whistleblower Protections Again

On May 22, 2023, the Supreme Court of California answered the following question in People ex rel. Garcia-Brower v. Kolla’s, Inc., S269456...more

Morrison & Foerster LLP - Left Coast Appeals

This Week At The Ninth: Robocalls and Retaliation

This week, the Court addresses the constitutionality of a nearly $1 billion statutory damages award under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) and revives a California state law whistleblower claim. The Court...more

Proskauer - California Employment Law

Despite Employee-Friendly Test, California Court of Appeal Finds in Favor of Employer in Whistleblower Retaliation Claim

As we reported here, earlier this year, the California Supreme Court confirmed a relaxed standard by which employees can prove whistleblower retaliation under Labor Code section 1102.5 in Lawson v. PPG Architectural Finishes,...more

Proskauer Rose LLP

California Employment Law Notes - May 2022

Proskauer Rose LLP on

Former UCLA Physician Can Proceed With Whistleblower Claims - Scheer v. The Regents of the Univ. of Cal., 76 Cal. App. 5th 904 (2022) - Arnold Scheer, M.D., M.P.H., sued the Regents of the University of California and...more

Payne & Fears

Key California Employment Law Cases: January & February 2022

Payne & Fears on

Lawson v. PPG Architectural Finishes, Inc., 12 Cal. 5th 703 (2022) - Summary: Labor Code section 1102.6, not McDonnell Douglas, provides the standard for evaluating whistleblower retaliation claims under Labor Code...more

Haight Brown & Bonesteel LLP

Employees No Longer Need to Satisfy McDonnell Douglas Test for Whistleblower Retaliation Claims

The California Supreme Court issued an opinion in Lawson v. PPG Architectural Finishes, Inc. (S266001, Jan. 27, 2022), addressing the Ninth Circuit’s question of the proper method for presenting and evaluating a claim of...more

ArentFox Schiff

California Supreme Court Adopts Employee-Friendly Test for Whistleblower Retaliation Claims

ArentFox Schiff on

The California Supreme Court has held that the standard for assessing whistleblower retaliation claims under California Labor Code section 1102.5 is not the McDonnell Douglas test, but the more plaintiff-friendly standard...more

Perkins Coie

CA Supreme Court Clarifies Standard for Whistleblower Retaliation Claims Under Labor Code Section 1102.5

Perkins Coie on

The Supreme Court of California provided California employers with important clarification on the standard courts will apply when analyzing an employee’s whistleblower retaliation claim arising under Labor Code Section...more

Akerman LLP - HR Defense

California Supreme Court Clarifies Whistleblower Retaliation Standard

California employers can expect to see an uptick in whistleblower claims as a result of a recent California Supreme Court ruling that increases the burden on employers to prove that adverse employment actions are based on...more

Proskauer - Whistleblower Defense

CA Supreme Court: Contributing-Factor Standard Applies to Whistleblower Retaliation Claims

On January 27, 2022, the California Supreme Court settled an inconsistency that has divided the courts of appeal with respect to the proper evidentiary standard for whistleblower retaliation claims under California Labor Code...more

Morrison & Foerster LLP

California Supreme Court Clarifies Standards for Whistleblower Claims Under California Labor Code Section 1102.5

What Happened? Before last week, some courts had applied the standard in California Labor Code section 1102.6 to resolve whistleblower claims under California Labor Code section 1102.5, while other courts had applied the...more

McDermott Will & Emery

California Supreme Court Decision Places Higher Burden on California Employers in Whistleblowing Retaliation Claims

On January 27, 2022, the California Supreme Court provided clarification in Lawson v. PPG Architectural Finishes, Inc. to lower courts reviewing whistleblower retaliation claims. In what it calls an “unsurprising” decision,...more

Hinshaw & Culbertson - Employment Law...

California Supreme Court Expands Protections for Employees Claiming to be "Whistleblowers"

On January 27, 2022, the California Supreme Court issued its Opinion in Lawson v. PPG Architectural Finishes, No. S266001, __ Cal. 5th ___, 2022 Cal. Lexis 312 (Jan. 27, 2022) regarding the proof paradigm in California...more

Morgan Lewis

California Supreme Court Clarifies Evidentiary Standard for Whistleblower Retaliation Claims

Morgan Lewis on

The Supreme Court of California, in response to a question certified to it by the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, clarified on January 27 in a unanimous opinion that California Labor Code Section 1102.6 provides...more

Payne & Fears

California Supreme Court Clarifies Burdens of Proof Applicable to Whistleblower Claims

Payne & Fears on

In response to a certified question posed by the United States Court of Appeal for the Ninth Circuit, the California Supreme Court on Jan. 27, 2022, resolved a years-long split among California courts by confirming that an...more

CDF Labor Law LLP

Default PAGA Penalties Not Recoverable Against Public Entity Employers

CDF Labor Law LLP on

In Sargent v. Board of Trustees of California State University, 2021 WL 836135 (March 5, 2021), the First Appellate District Court of Appeal ruled that while public entity employers were not entirely exempt from liability for...more

Proskauer - California Employment Law

California Employment Law Notes - November 2019

Court Upholds Whistleblower Verdicts In Favor Of Fired Parking Ticket Hearing Examiners - Hawkins v. City of Los Angeles, 40 Cal. App. 5th 384 (2019) - Todd Hawkins and Hyung Kim were terminated from their jobs as...more

Proskauer - Whistleblowing & Retaliation

Cal. App. Court Finds in Favor of Whistleblower Who Never Complained of Unlawful Conduct by the Employer

In Cardenas v. M. Fanaian, D.D.S., Inc., Case No. F069305 (Cal. App. 5 Dist.), a California Court of Appeal determined that Plaintiff Cardenas could pursue a California Labor Code Section 1102.5 retaliation claim against her...more

Proskauer - California Employment Law

Employee Could Proceed With Whistleblower Lawsuit Based On Employer’s Mistaken Belief She Had Complained

Diego v. Pilgrim United Church of Christ, 231 Cal. App. 4th 913 (2014) - Cecilia Diego, the former assistant director of Pilgrim United’s preschool, sued her former employer for retaliation in violation of public...more

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