Legal Question in Employment Law in California
I work for a nation wide corporation in California. I have a class "A" license and drive a truck that is registered for 10K lbs. the truck weighs over 16Klbs. about 2.5 years ago I found out when I was stopped at the CHP highway scales that the declared weight registration of 20k lbs. on the door of the truck didn't belong to the truck it was on. CHP gave me the option to call my supervisor so CHP could fax over the owner responsibility forms for the Boss to sign and fax back to CHP so I wouldn't get the ticket. "California law has chacged and now the citation will now be to the driver" I have been told to drive this truck for the last 2.5 years and to not tell anyone about the registration issue and to drive around the highway scales by my supervisor. I have asked My supervisor a number of times if we can get the registration issue corrected but was told no. For fear of losing my job and income because My Wife and I are approximately $100,000.00 in debt with medical bills from an auto accident my wife was in and needing the insurance for my wife I have kept my mouth shut. " I was promotion to a supervisor Position about a year ago but that was shortly lived and I was just demoted recently to my original position. My question is, is it too late to refuse to drive a vehicle that is not correctly registered without the worries of retaliation and loss of job? and if I lose my job over refusing to drive the truck what are my legal options? I know I should have spoken up years ago but I really was convinced not saying anything would help me out in the long haul with the company and my job security.
Thank you.
1 Answer from Attorneys
It is never too late to report this. Since your supervisor wouldn't do anything about this, you need to go up the ladder. Report this, in writing, to the corporate offices. If you do get fired, you may have some good claims against your employer. Contact a local employment attorney for a more detailed consultation.