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Protecting UC Workers from Whistleblower Retaliation

By Leland Yee, Ph.D.
Assistant President pro Tem
California State Senate

Last month the California Supreme Court ruled unanimously that University of California employees who are retaliated against because they report wrongdoing cannot sue for damages under the state’s Whistleblower Protection Act, so long as the University itself reviews the complaints and rejects them in a timely fashion. The ruling uncovered an oversight made by the Legislature when the Act was amended in 2001, which provided legal standing for all other state employees, including employees of the California State University, to seek damages.

In response to the recent court decision, yesterday I introduced legislation (SB 1199) to provide UC employees with the same whistleblower protections and legal standing as all other state employees.

UC executives should not be judge and jury on whether or not they are liable for monetary claims. This is the classic case of the fox guarding the hen house and not the intent of California’s whistleblower law. In light of the Court’s ruling, it is imperative that we pass SB 1199 and immediately correct this statute to protect UC workers from unfair retaliation for rightfully reporting waste, fraud, or abuse.

The Court’s decision in Miklosy v. the Regents of the University of California (S139133, July 31, 2008), deals with the plight of two former scientists at UC’s Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, who repeatedly told their supervisors about equipment problems and poorly trained operators of a project designed to determine the safety and reliability of the nation’s nuclear weapons stockpile. One of the scientists, Leo Miklosy, was fired in February 2003 and the other, Luciana Messina, resigned a few days later after overhearing a supervisor say she would also be fired. It is precisely these types of cases in which the California Whistleblower Protection Act was meant to prevent.

While the Court was unanimous in their ruling, three of the seven judges urged the Legislature to consider changes to the law as the current statute undermines the purpose of the Act.

“The court’s reading of the Act, making the University the judge of its own civil liability and leaving its employees vulnerable to retaliation for reporting abuses, thwarts the demonstrated legislative intent to protect those employees and thereby encourage candid reporting,” wrote Justice Kathryn Mickle Werdegar, joined by Chief Justice Ronald George and Justice Carlos Moreno. “If the same government organization that has tried to silence the reporting employee also sits in final judgment of the employee’s retaliation claim, the law’s protection against retaliation is illusory.”

SB 1199 will resolve the ambiguity in statute referenced by the Supreme Court and will ensure that all UC employees are given the same real – and not illusory – whistleblower protections as other state employees.

Please join Californians Aware, American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees, Project on Government Oversight, and the California Psychiatric Association, among others, in support of this much-needed legislation.

Leland Yee is a member of the California State Senate Democratic Leadership team and the Assistant President pro Tem of the Senate. Senator Yee is also a graduate of the University of California at Berkeley.

Posted on August 13, 2008

Comments

Dear Senator Yee:

As a whistleblower in the California State University system I applaud your hard work on behalf on California workers and taxpayers. I also urge you to turn your efforts to reforming the CSU whistleblower program, which, in my experience, is callously wasteful and counter to the spirit of whistleblowing legislation. By way of example, please see last Sunday's story in the San Francisco Chronicle by Jim Doyle about three whistleblowers at the CSU Chancellor's office. Also, please see www.whistlebusters.org. This site features a complaint signed by 12 CSU whistleblowers against the CSU whistleblower program.

Finally, in reference to our invitation to join various organizations to support this legislation, please let us what we can do to that end. Tax dollars should go into funding quality education, not lining the pockets of fancy lawyers who will spare no expense to keep the CSU from going before a jury.

Sincerely,

Maria M. Carreira, Ph.D.
Carreiragfmc@hotmail.com
Associate Professor
California State University, Long Beach

Posted by: Maria Carreira at August 20, 2008 09:25 AM

Dear Senator Yee,

You are an admirable man to stand for what is right; I empathize with just how challenging that can be. I worked for DMH at Coalinga State Hospital as the Chief of Police for about 3 1/2 years, and was terminated for reporting abuses and illegal expenditures. I was not protected as a "Whistle Blower", even though I did report to the State Whistle Blowers Hot-line in the Controller's Office and they did eventually discipline one Executive, another resigned, and a third was allowed to retire. I am still being retaliated against, but cannot get the California State Personnel Board or Dept. of Personnel Administration to act. They advised that my grievances are not valid, due to being an exempt/managerial state employee. I truly understand how difficult it can be to stand-up for what is right; and I sincerely respect people like you who take the risk and do so. Thank you for representing the People of California in such an honorable way.

Sincerely,

Chuck Rabaut
demoted/ex-Chief of Police,
current Supervising Special Investigator
Coalinga State Hospital / DMH
Coalinga, California

Posted by: Chuck Rabaut at October 9, 2008 09:43 AM

MAXIDEX DEXAMETHASONE WARNING

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Posted by: WEL at May 15, 2009 06:00 PM

MAXIDEX DEXAMETHASONE WARNING

I had eye surgery and in the post-op pack was MAXIDEX(dexamethasone) drops by ALCON LABS.

Two days later I was BLIND

Use Google and enter EPOCRATES MAXIDEX REACTION to verify

Or call 800-757-9195

Posted by: WEL at May 15, 2009 06:02 PM

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