By Steve Kardell | Published March 10, 2022 | Posted in Employee Rights, Whistleblower Litigation, Wrongful Termination | Tagged Tags: cover up, employer retaliation, sexual abuse |
San Jose State University (SJSU) recently agreed to settle a lawsuit alleging a coverup of sexual abuse allegations. The claimant was a whistleblower who targeted the suit against the university and former athletic director Marie Tuite. The settlement value was $560,000. Case background In the suit, whistleblower Steve O’Brien claimed the university fired him because Read More
Read MoreOn January 10, 2022, the Sixth Circuit ruled the statute of limitations period for False Claims Act whistleblower retaliation cases begins when the whistleblower is first notified of the adverse retaliatory action. This clarification came in the ruling of El-Khalil v. Oakwood Healthcare, Inc. Case background The plaintiff in the case, El-Khalil, witnessed employees of Read More
Read MoreThe United States Department of Labor will investigate allegations that Apple retaliated against an employee who blew the whistle on company wrongdoing. The whistleblower is Ashley Gjovik, a former senior engineering program manager. Gjovik had originally complained she was subjected to frequent harassment and unsafe working conditions while she worked for Apple. Case background Apple Read More
Read MoreJudith Zimmerman, a former professor at the University of Utah, won $760,000 in damages in a jury trial after she sued the university claiming whistleblower retaliation. The case was another example of how whistleblower retaliation can result in the perpetrator being subject to significant penalties for their actions. Case background Zimmerman had worked for the Read More
Read MoreA whistleblower claims he was wrongfully terminated from his position after repeatedly raising his concerns about COVID-19 protocols at Trojan Battery Co. in Santa Fe Springs. The company was the subject of an investigation in 2020 after a virus outbreak resulted in 61 total infections and the death of one employee. The whistleblower, John Martinez, Read More
Read MoreA former worker at a McDonald’s location in San Jose, California recently filed a whistleblower retaliation lawsuit against the company, claiming she was fired for leading protests against the restaurant when it failed to provide workers with personal protective equipment (PPE) in the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic. The employee, Maria E. Ruiz Bonilla, Read More
Read MoreTrisa Crutcher, an employee of a Fort Worth Police Crime Laboratory, recently filed a whistleblower complaint alleging a variety of violations at the lab that could result in negative impacts on hundreds of criminal cases, including investigations surrounding death penalty cases. Crutcher’s 174-page report details massive lags in testing of child sexual abuse cases, various Read More
Read MoreKatrina Bryant, a former worker at a construction site for a new Amazon warehouse in Boardman, Oregon, alleges she was the victim of wrongful termination after she raised concerns to superiors over safety measures to prevent COVID-19 spread. Allegations in the case Bryant was tasked with safety compliance at the construction site, with duties including Read More
Read MoreA San Diego woman, Drisana Rios, claims she was fired from global insurance firm HUB International due to the difficulties she was having with managing childcare for her two young children while working from home during the COVID-19 pandemic. Rios was an account executive for the firm, and claims she was subjected to regular harassment Read More
Read MoreFrancesca Tucker-Schuyler served until recently as the city manager for Montebello, CA. However, she was fired in February 2019 in what she claims to have been a case of wrongful termination and whistleblower retaliation. She has filed a lawsuit against the city alleging retaliation, discrimination based on sex, failure to prevent discrimination and wrongful termination. Read More
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