retaliation/harrassment for whistleblowing-county protected

in july i turned in friend of Administration and "one of their own" into fraud hotline for suspected theft,gross abuse/personal gain of baby supplies costing thousands of dollars to county. The person i named told people i turned her in and shortly after there were repeated "reports" of my absconding w/ county property from stockroom (I have managed/maintained stockroom for 3 1/2 years and last 2 evaluations were Very Good. My boss, Assist. Regional Admin, even said people were playing games but he took punitive actions towards me as his boss (friend and defender of person i turned in) demanded it--even tho i was cleared every time. I sent my claim/case to Human Resources requesting investigation and violation of County Code Section that protects whistle-blowers and asked for response in 30 days. 30 days is up and no response.
Fair Employment/labor said they cant take it since no racial/gender issues involved. Does HR not responding increase my case? Can i pursue damages and my request to get out of stockroom duties? I engaged in protected activity and was subsequently repeatedly falsely charged and punished with absconding with county property, and altho cleared every time, punished w/ punitive actions "for my own protection" which by no means protect me from these game-players/retaliators, and no repurcussions have been made to the game players that i know.

1 answer  |  asked Jan 18, 2005 4:25 PM [EST]  |  applies to California

Answers (1)

Janet M. Koehn
defamation

you have a defamation claim, as well as a claim based on state and local whistleblower protections and the constitution. but you need to sit down with a well-qualified attorney who is skilled in representation of public employees. you can find such an attorney in your area by going to the cal employment lawyers assn website, www. celaweb.org.
good luck

posted by Janet M. Koehn  |  Jan 18, 2005 5:22 PM [EST]

Answer This Question

Sign In to Answer this Question

Related Questions with Answers

Have an Employment Law question?