Whistleblower

Michael Trust founded Michael Trust Law, APC after more than 35 years in HR leadership across entertainment, healthcare, higher education, finance, banking, solar energy, and other industries, including managing approximately 35,000 disability and leave-of-absence cases. He holds the SPHR, PHRca, and SHRM-SCP credentials. The PHRca is a California-specific HR credential focused on California employment law and HR practice. According to HRCI’s published pass-rate statistics at https://www.hrci.org/pass-rates, the PHRca has the lowest pass rate of all HRCI credentials — 47% as of December 31, 2025, compared with 71–84% for HRCI’s other certifications — and only 293 candidates worldwide tested for it in 2025. That HR-systems background helps identify HR process issues early, which can shape legal analysis on both sides.

Employee Whistleblower Protection

Exposing misconduct at work takes courage. California law protects employees who report illegal or unsafe practices, but retaliation is common.

Whistleblower

A typical whistleblower scenario involves an employee who reports a suspected legal violation — wage theft, safety violations, accounting irregularities, environmental compliance issues — and then faces adverse employment action. Once the protected disclosure and adverse action are established, the burden under Cal. Lab. Code §1102.6 shifts to the employer to prove by clear and convincing evidence that the same action would have been taken for legitimate, independent reasons. The strength of the employee’s case typically depends on the timing between the disclosure and the adverse action.

California Labor Code §1102.5 protects employees who disclose information about suspected violations of law. Once an employee establishes a protected disclosure and adverse action, Cal. Lab. Code §1102.6 shifts the burden to the employer to demonstrate by clear and convincing evidence that it would have taken the same action for legitimate, independent reasons.

This HR background often proves relevant to whistleblower defense and prosecution, where the burden-shifting framework under Cal. Lab. Code §1102.6 makes pre-disclosure documentation the central question.

California Whistleblower Protection — Employee Rights

California’s primary whistleblower protection statute, Cal. Lab. Code §1102.5, prohibits employer retaliation against an employee who discloses, or who the employer believes may disclose, information to a government or law enforcement agency, to a person with authority over the employee, or to another employee with authority to investigate, if the employee has reasonable cause to believe the information discloses a violation of state or federal statute, rule, or regulation. Cal/OSHA-related health and safety complaints are separately protected under Cal. Lab. Code §6310.

What §1102.5 Requires

Once an employee establishes that they engaged in protected disclosure and suffered an adverse action, Cal. Lab. Code §1102.6 places the burden on the employer to demonstrate by clear and convincing evidence that it would have taken the same action for legitimate, independent reasons. This is a meaningfully higher burden than most employment statutes impose, and it changes the practical calculus in many whistleblower cases. Whether a particular disclosure is protected, and whether the burden-shifting framework applies, depends on the specifics of what was disclosed, to whom, and what followed — all fact-specific. The scope of Cal. Lab. Code §1102.5 protected disclosure is calibrated by two recent appellate decisions: the disclosure must be specific enough to put the employer on notice that unlawful conduct is being reported (Wawrzenski v. United Airlines, Inc. (2024) 106 Cal.App.5th 663), but the disclosing employee’s belief that a violation of law has occurred need only be objectively reasonable — it does not need to be legally correct — and an honest, reasonable misinterpretation of the underlying law does not defeat Cal. Lab. Code §1102.5 protection (Contreras v. Green Thumb Produce, Inc. (2025) D085440).

When to Contact Us

Whistleblower claims often involve careful evidence preservation and timing analysis. Contact Michael Trust Law, APC for a 30-minute conversation about your specific situation.

Initial contact does not create an attorney-client relationship — see Disclaimers.

Cal. Lab. Code §1102.5 (general whistleblower); Cal. Lab. Code §1102.6 (employer burden); Cal. Lab. Code §6310 (Cal/OSHA-related complaints); Wawrzenski v. United Airlines, Inc. (2024) 106 Cal.App.5th 663; Contreras v. Green Thumb Produce, Inc. (2025) D085440

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Frequently Asked Questions

Temporal proximity is typically a major piece of the prima facie case under Cal. Lab. Code §1102.5. Once you establish a protected disclosure and an adverse action, the burden under Cal. Lab. Code §1102.6 shifts to the employer to prove by clear and convincing evidence that the same action would have been taken for legitimate, independent reasons. Three weeks is a tight timing window that often supports the inference.

No. Cal. Lab. Code §1102.5(b) protects disclosures to a person with authority over the employee — including internal supervisors and HR — as well as disclosures to government or law enforcement. The disclosure can be either internal or external.

Likely not, if your belief was reasonable. Contreras v. Green Thumb Produce, Inc. (2025) D085440 confirms that the Cal. Lab. Code §1102.5(b) inquiry is whether the disclosing employee’s belief that a violation occurred was objectively reasonable, not whether the employee was legally correct. Reasonable mistakes about the underlying law do not defeat protection.

Probably not, standing alone. Wawrzenski v. United Airlines, Inc. (2024) 106 Cal.App.5th 663 holds that the disclosure must be specific enough to put the employer on notice that unlawful conduct is being reported. Vague or conclusory complaints typically do not satisfy the protected-disclosure element.

Take Action

If you believe you’ve been retaliated against for whistleblowing, don’t wait. Protect your rights and your career:

Contact Michael Trust Law, APC Today