Legal Question in Employment Law in California

My question verges on 2 areas. Elder abuse and employment law. I am an RN and I witnessed abuse of a patient by a staff member. A pt. care tech placed a patient who has dementia in a chokehold from behind, effectively strangling him until his arms and legs went flaccid, pulling him back into his pt. room of a prominent employer. I was among at least 7-8 people, mostly RNs that witnessed this unprovoked incident. I was so shocked (and new at this job), that I didn't know what do say or do. No one else seemed to feel the need to act either. I was so upset by it, on my way home I called back to the facility and informed the night shift RN supervisor, who instructed me to report it to my manager in the morning. She also said she removed that sitter from the pt. I reported incident to Assistant Nurse Manager because manager was off. She said she'd investigate it and follow up. A month later, I saw the same pt. care tech at work, taking care of patients. I was mortified. So then I reported it myself to a police dept. because APS and the ombudsman would NOT accept the report saying the other entity was responsible for it. Now my employer is coming after me, like I am a whistleblower. I may be fired soon for what they say is not adequate time mgmt. I come out of work anywhere from 5-15 min. late because they assign me heavier patients, compared to the other nurses. What recourse do I have?


Asked on 12/18/10, 3:33 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
David Sarnoff Sarnoff + Sarnoff

While it is difficult to give any feedback without speaking with you and getting more information, from what you've written, it appears you may be the victim of whistleblower retaliation. California's Whistleblower Statute, Labor Code section 1102.5, states, in pertinent part, "An employer may not retaliate against an employee for disclosing information to a government or law enforcement agency, where the employee has reasonable cause to believe that the information discloses a violation of state or federal statute, or a violation or noncompliance with a state or federal rule or regulation." As I understand, since you reported this incident to the police department, you have been subject to retaliatory conduct and are on the verge of being terminated. This is very possibly unlawful retaliation under California's Whistleblower statute.

You should contact an employment attorney quickly, as they can advise you on what steps you should take immediately to either prevent further retaliation or at least inform your employer of the retaliation prior to you being terminated. My law partner or I would be happy to speak with you. If you wish to speak further about this, please do not hesitate to contact my law firm via telephone at (213) 536-4236, email at [email protected], or you can get more information from our website, www.sarnofflaw.com.

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Answered on 12/23/10, 3:55 pm


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