(a) An employer, or any person acting on behalf of the employer, shall
not make, adopt, or enforce any rule, regulation, or policy preventing
an employee from disclosing information to a government or law enforcement
agency, to a person with authority over the employee, or to another employee
who has authority to investigate, discover, or correct the violation or
noncompliance, or from providing information to, or testifying before,
any public body conducting an investigation, hearing, or inquiry, if the
employee has reasonable cause to believe that the information discloses
a violation of state or federal statute, or a violation of or noncompliance
with a local, state, or federal rule or regulation, regardless of whether
disclosing the information is part of the employee’s job duties.
(b) An employer, or any person acting on behalf of the employer, shall
not retaliate against an employee for disclosing information, or because
the employer believes that the employee disclosed or may disclose information,
to a government or law enforcement agency, to a person with authority
over the employee or another employee who has the authority to investigate,
discover, or correct the violation or noncompliance, or for providing
information to, or testifying before, any public body conducting an investigation,
hearing, or inquiry, if the employee has reasonable cause to believe that
the information discloses a violation of state or federal statute, or
a violation of or noncompliance with a local, state, or federal rule or
regulation, regardless of whether disclosing the information is part of
the employee’s job duties.
(c) An employer, or any person acting on behalf of the employer, shall
not retaliate against an employee for refusing to participate in an activity
that would result in a violation of state or federal statute, or a violation
of or noncompliance with a local, state, or federal rule or regulation.
(d) An employer, or any person acting on behalf of the employer, shall
not retaliate against an employee for having exercised their rights under
subdivision (a), (b), or (c) in any former employment.
(e) A report made by an employee of a government agency to their employer
is a disclosure of information to a government or law enforcement agency
pursuant to subdivisions (a) and (b).
(f) In addition to other penalties, an employer that is a corporation or
limited liability company is liable for a civil penalty not exceeding
ten thousand dollars ($10,000) for each violation of this section.
(g) This section does not apply to rules, regulations, or policies that
implement, or to actions by employers against employees who violate, the
confidentiality of the lawyer-client privilege of Article 3 (commencing
with Section 950) of, or the physician-patient privilege of Article 6
(commencing with Section 990) of, Chapter 4 of Division 8 of the Evidence
Code, or trade secret information.
(h) An employer, or a person acting on behalf of the employer, shall not
retaliate against an employee because the employee is a family member
of a person who has, or is perceived to have, engaged in any acts protected
by this section.
(i) For purposes of this section, “employer” or “a person
acting on behalf of the employer” includes, but is not limited to,
a client employer as defined in paragraph (1) of subdivision (a) of Section
2810.3 and an employer listed in subdivision (b) of Section 6400.
(j) The court is authorized to award reasonable attorney’s fees to
a plaintiff who brings a successful action for a violation of these provisions.