Category Archives: Retaliation

California law protects employees from retaliation who oppose unlawful company conduct by either complaining against their boss, or testifying against their boss or employer in any legal proceeding. What is retaliation though? Retaliation occurs when an employer fires, demotes, lays-off, or does something that adversely affects the employee’s job because the employee opposed unlawful practices under the law. When this happens employment lawyers may be contacted to ensure that employers are held accountable for their illegal conduct.

Our main page on retaliation can be found here. Here is a video Branigan Robertson made to explain retaliation to non-lawyers.

Case Example of Lawyers Holding an Employer Accountable

In Zulfer v. Playboy Enterprises Inc., the plaintiff employee worked as an executive in the corporate accounting department for almost thirty years. At one point, the CFO, asked the plaintiff to accrue over $1 million dollars in executive bonuses on the company’s general ledger. The plaintiff refused to do so because Board approval was required if there was to be a pay out on the bonuses. The plaintiff then discussed what the CFO asked of her with another executive at the company. Several months later, the CFO terminated the plaintiff because he had made the decision to eliminate her position. Oddly enough, the CFO had another executive move from Chicago to California to basically take over plaintiff’s former corporate controller position. The plaintiff immediately retained an employment lawyer.

Plaintiff alleged that the CFO pressured her into making the accrual without following internal accounting policies which would violate the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. Defendant alleged that the issue had nothing to do with the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, but was simply a routine accounting issue within the company. Further, the defendant argued that the plaintiff’s termination was legitimate.

The jury was not convinced and found that the company had retaliated against the plaintiff for refusing to take part in illegal activity in violation of the Sarbanes Oxley Act. The jury awarded the plaintiff a verdict of $6,000,000.

What Should You Do If You’re Retaliated Against?

Unfortunately, it is not uncommon for employers to ask or demand their employees to perform some duty in violation of the law. Many times employees feel pressured and will succumb to the employer’s demands. However, as Zullfer illustrates, employers can be held accountable for retaliating against their employees for refusing to break the law. If you feel you have been retaliated against for opposing unlawful company conduct, contact an employment lawyer immediately. Attorney’s like Branigan Robertson generally represent employees on a contingency fee. They normally do not charge for consultations. Therefore, there is no risk in picking up the phone.

Workplace retaliation is the unlawful employment practice in which an employer discharges or discriminates against an employee because that employee has opposed illegal practices that occurred at the workplace or because that employee has filed a complaint, testified, or assisted in any legal proceeding. Thus, an employee may have a retaliation claim in a situation where his or her employer wrongfully terminates the employee for testifying in a legal proceeding against the lawyer, or even assisting in a legal proceeding involving the employer.

In Avila v. Los Angeles Police Department, a police officer sued the LAPD alleging that he was owed overtime pay for working during his lunch periods. Avila, a fellow police officer, was called as a witness at trial. Avila testified that he worked through lunch without ever claiming overtime. He also testified that he witnessed other police officers working through lunch without claiming overtime. After his testimony, a disciplinary review board found him guilty of insubordination because he did not report overtime work violations to anyone during his tenure as a police officer. Subsequently, LAPD fired Avila. In response, Avila filed a retaliation lawsuit.

LAPD argued that he was not fired for testifying, but because Avila’s testimony shed light that he was not correctly reporting his work time. The Court was not convinced. Evidence showed that it was not uncommon for police officers to work through their lunch hours without reporting overtime hours. Oddly enough, only those who testified, including Avila, were fired. Further, Avila was terminated in the first placed because he had testified. If Avila had not testified, LAPD would have no knowledge of him not reporting working through his lunch break. Therefore, it was very reasonable for the jury to find that Avila’s testimony prompted his termination.

To sum it up, an employer cannot retaliate against an employee because the employee took part in a legal proceeding against the employer. Further, an employer cannot retaliate against an employee for complaining of potential wage and hour violations. Avila v. Los Angeles Police Department is a win for employees as it shows employers that they need to be extremely careful when firing someone for complaining or being part of a legal proceeding against them.