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laid off due to being a whistleblower troublemaker?

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piscator

Guest
What is the name of your state? California

I am a construction project manager. I was laid off due to "reorganization"; my division was losing money, though all my manged jobs were not. I had seniority to another project manager who was not laid off - I'd been there a year longer - but I had recently been pursuing a lead abatement issue between the subcontractor I worked for, and a General Contractor that a large portion of the company's work was with. The people I reported to in my company were uncooperative about pursuing the issue with the GC until I got the company Safety Officer involved. After that, the onsite abatement was begun. I had an excellent record with all my managed jobs, but I think I was picked for layoff because I chose to pursue the abatememt issue (at an elementary school modernization) because of my concerns for health of the employees and the later attending students. I was a "troublemaker".
 


cbg

I'm a Northern Girl
You don't ask a question in your post but I'm assuming you want to know what legal recourse you have. The answer is, it depends.

"Whistleblower" laws only protect you if you reported illegal activity to the appropriate outside agency. They do not protect you (except in a few states where the law has been expanded - sorry I don't know if your state is one of them) if you made an internal complaint. Your post is not clear as to which took place.

In addition to that, while you cannot be selected for layoff BECAUSE you reported the illegal activity, you can be selected for layoff in spite of it. Granted, there's no way it will not look suspicious. But if the company is able to point to sound business reasons why your position was one of the ones eliminated, you are probably SOL.
 

Beth3

Senior Member
I've been mulling over whether there might be any "public policy" violation recourse here. Given that the employer did follow through with the necessary lead abatement program, particularly without gov't intervention, I think it's going to be a very tough case to make that he was fired in retalliation.

piscator, you are going to have to consult with an attorney to get an expert opinion on whether you have any basis to bring a claim and if so, what's going to be involved in doing so.
 

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