Whistleblower

Orange County employee says she was constructively terminated. $1.2M. Orange County.

Employee in the public defender's office says a supervisor sent her an unwanted, sexually explicit message and later harassed her about her work.  

  • Case Name: Glenda Mendoza v. County of Orange
  • Date of Verdict or Judgment: Monday, October 31, 2022

Whistleblower sues bank employer. $1.5M. San Diego County.

Bank auditor is fired after he reports to outside governmental agencies his beliefs of wrongdoing by the bank.

  • Case Name: Charles Matthew Erhart v. BofI Holding Inc.
  • Date of Verdict or Judgment: Wednesday, May 18, 2022

County of Los Angeles whistleblower. $257K.

African-American manager in LA County Tax Collector's office says he was retaliated against after blowing whistle on the activities of a senior manager.

  • Case Name: Winston v. County of Los Angeles
  • Date of Verdict or Judgment: Wednesday, November 24, 2021

Director of IT is fired after refusing to sign false declaration. $1.6M. Los Angeles County.

IT manager loses his job and is replaced by the spouse of the company manager that he had accused of a HIPPA-related violation.

  • Case Name: Matthew Flanigan v. Rheumatology Diagnostics Laboratory, Inc.
  • Date of Verdict or Judgment: Thursday, October 21, 2021

Navy veteran retaliated against for whistleblower complaint. $1.7M. San Bernardino County.

Employee of defense subcontractor refuses to take photographs of equipment on military base when ordered to do so, reports those improper orders to general contractor, and is later fired on a pretext. 

  • Case Name: Randall Benart v. DA Defense Logistics HQ, LLC
  • Date of Verdict or Judgment: Tuesday, December 24, 2019

Wrongful termination of senior manager. $4M. San Diego County.

Company's controller is fired after five months of employment; she claims retaliation.

  • Case Name: Shujun Qiu v. Three Rivers Provider Network, Inc.
  • Date of Verdict or Judgment: Tuesday, October 15, 2019

Retaliation against deputy trainee who reported illegal stops and arrests. $8.1M. Los Angeles County.

LA County Sheriffs Department captain retaliates against deputy who reported misconduct.

  • Case Name: Andrew Rodriguez v. County of Los Angeles
  • Date of Verdict or Judgment: Friday, October 04, 2019

LAUSD teacher claims retaliation after she reports suspected child abuse. $600K. Los Angeles County.

Preschool teacher says she was retaliated against for reporting abuse.

  • Case Name: Johana Davila v. Los Angeles Unified School District
  • Date of Verdict or Judgment: Tuesday, September 10, 2019

20-year City of Compton employee suffers discrimination, retaliation and termination. $655K. Los Angeles County.

City of Compton's HR director is terminated; claims retaliation after reporting discrimination and harassment by city council member.

  • Case Name: Kareemah Mateen-Bradford v. City of Compton, et al.
  • Date of Verdict or Judgment: Tuesday, June 11, 2019

Engineer reports he was improperly given access to classified documents. Whistleblower. $1.5M. Los Angeles County.

Plaintiff provided engineering support in fulfillment of the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory and Caltech RESS contract. While he was helping design the spacecraft's power supply, plaintiff received a classified/proprietary engineering math software that he should not have been given. He reported it. Later terminated.

  • Case Name: David Lillie v. ManTech International Corporation
  • Date of Verdict or Judgment: Thursday, February 28, 2019

Catholic-school teacher's contract not renewed after maternity leave. $3.6M. Los Angeles County.

Teacher says termination after pregnancy leave was retaliation; church says it was due to her performance. 

  • Case Name: Liggins v. Archdiocese of Los Angeles, Father Michael Tang, et al.
  • Date of Verdict or Judgment: Thursday, November 01, 2018

Three whistle-blowing employees of FedEx claim unsafe airplane repairs. $8M. Los Angeles County.

Employees say they complained about unsafe aircraft repair and repairs that were signed off on but never done, and then were retaliated against.

  • Case Name: Gruzalski et al. v. Federal Express Corporation et al.
  • Date of Verdict or Judgment: Friday, October 19, 2018

Civilian investigator reports misconduct, which City of Long Beach tries to hide. $736K. Los Angeles County.

Civilian investigator is terminated after he says valid complaints against Long Beach police were repeatedly ignored; claims retaliation.

  • Case Name: Thomas Gonzales v. City of Long Beach
  • Date of Verdict or Judgment: Friday, September 07, 2018

Whistleblower gets $22M punitives after wrongful termination. $25.1M. Los Angeles County.

Sales manager reports illegal sale activity, claims he was retaliated against.

  • Case Name: Steven Babyak v. Cardiovascular Systems Inc.
  • Date of Verdict or Judgment: Tuesday, April 25, 2017