Labor & Employment Law Blog

On September 29, 2020, Governor Newsom signed Assembly Bill 1963 expanding the list of mandated reporters in California.  Existing law, the Child Abuse and Neglect Reporting Act, requires mandated reporters to report whenever they, in their professional capacity or within the scope of their employment, have knowledge of or observe a child whom the mandated reporter knows or reasonably suspects has been the victim of child abuse or neglect.  Failure by a mandated reporter to report an incident of known or reasonably suspected child abuse or neglect is a misdemeanor punishable by up to six months of confinement in a county jail, by a fine of $1000, or both. 

California Labor Code section 1102.5 is an expansive whistleblower statute frequently used by plaintiffs’ attorneys to sue for wrongful termination.  Section 1102.5’s many protections include prohibiting employers from adopting rules preventing employees from making complaints (sub (a)), prohibiting retaliation against an employee who has “reasonable cause to believe” that an activity may be illegal (sub (b)) and prohibiting retaliation against an employee who refuses to participate in an activity that is illegal (sub (c)).  Subsection (d) also protects employees from retaliation based on conduct at prior employment.