33 results for 'cat:"Whistleblowers" AND cat:"Employment Retaliation"'.
J. Hunt partially grants the Chicago Board of Education’s motion to dismiss multiple civil rights claims brought by a former employee. The former employee claims the board fired him in retaliation for prior charges he brought, over the board not accommodating his disabilities. The court mostly dismisses his retaliation and ADA discrimination claims, as he had pulled a girl out of class by her wrist and school officials overheard him speaking unprofessionally about a suicidal student, but allows a portion of his claim under the Illinois Whistleblower Act to proceed.
Court: USDC Northern District of Illinois, Judge: Hunt, Filed On: April 29, 2024, Case #: 1:20cv73, NOS: Amer w/Disabilities-Employment - Civil Rights, Categories: Ada / Rehabilitation Act, whistleblowers, employment Retaliation
J. Urbanksi grants the corporation a motion to dismiss. A cybersecurity expert hired by the corporation to head their apprentice program claims the corporation created a coverup to fire him for voicing ethical concerns regarding the apprentices. The expert told the corporation that he believed their practice of classifying the apprentices as contractors rather than employees is illegal. The expert fails to state a claim because Maryland has refused to recognize a cause of action for wrongful discharge where an employee is discharged after he complains internally of suspected wrongdoing without elevating his concerns to law enforcement.
Court: USDC Western District of Virginia, Judge: Urbanski, Filed On: April 2, 2024, Case #: 5:22cv7, Categories: Employment, whistleblowers, employment Retaliation
J. Contreras denies the employee's motion for summary judgment in her suit alleging that she was demoted, reassigned and ultimately terminated in retaliation for her criticisms of her employer's response to the Covid-19 pandemic in early 2020, and partially grant's the employer's summary judgment motion. The employee argues that seven protected disclosures she made led to retaliation, but has only established a prima facie case of retaliation in relation to one of these seven. The employee's First Amendment retaliation claim survives summary judgment, since the employers' relevant, legitimate interests in protecting the release of inmates' and staff's health information are minimal relative to the employee's interest in "shedding light on the deplorable conditions in the D.C. Jail and the ongoing threat to inmate and staff safety." Finally, the employee's motion to file a substantial portion of her filings under seal is granted as to 16 exhibits, but denied as to others, including some which included information designated as confidential by the employer "out of an abundance of caution."
Court: USDC District of Columbia, Judge: Contreras, Filed On: March 28, 2024, Case #: 1:20cv2944, NOS: Other Statutory Actions - Other Suits, Categories: Employment, whistleblowers, employment Retaliation
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J. Oetken partially denies the employer's motion to dismiss a trader's claims he was fired after repeatedly reporting illegal trading using the bank's proprietary account information of pending client orders to make unrelated stock trades. The trader failed to exhaust his administrative remedies for his promotion, suspension, and bonus claims. However, he may pursue his whistleblower and employment retaliation claims, as the trader plausibly alleges his protected activity was a contributing factor to his termination.
Court: USDC Southern District of New York, Judge: Oetken, Filed On: March 18, 2024, Case #: 1:22cv8621, NOS: Employment - Civil Rights, Categories: whistleblowers, employment Retaliation
Per curiam, the Ninth Circuit finds that the district court properly dismissed a whistleblower-retaliation action brought by a Canadian citizen who alleged the claim under the Sarbanes-Oxley and Dodd-Frank Acts. The whistleblower anti-retaliation provisions in the Sarbanes-Oxley and Dodd-Frank Acts do not apply outside the United States. Affirmed.
Court: 9th Circuit, Judge: Per curiam, Filed On: February 6, 2024, Case #: 22-15959, Categories: whistleblowers, employment Retaliation
J. Bloomekatz finds the temporal proximity between the minority owner's reporting of alleged tax fraud to the IRS and his termination by the board of directors was sufficient to establish a prima facie case for retaliation, and although the lower court erroneously ruled otherwise, there was clear and convincing evidence to support the termination, which renders any error harmless. The minority owner's emergency conservatorship was fraudulent and based on his desire to oust his family members from the business, and their knowledge of his actions motivated the decision to fire him, regardless of the timing of his IRS report. Affirmed.
Court: 6th Circuit, Judge: Bloomekatz, Filed On: January 22, 2024, Case #: 23-5374, Categories: whistleblowers, employment Retaliation
J. Leeson grants in part a company’s motion to dismiss an employee’s complaint that he was fired in retaliation for reporting that the company allowed its officers to access customers’ protected health information while outside of the United States, fraudulently classified its employees as Allentown residents to qualify for a tax credit, and laid off employees in violation of the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) Act. The employee failed to state a claim under the False Claims Act.
Court: USDC Eastern District of Pennsylvania, Judge: Leeson, Filed On: November 27, 2023, Case #: 5:23cv2166, NOS: False Claims Act - Torts - Personal Injury, Categories: False Claims, whistleblowers, employment Retaliation
J. Marcus finds that the 11th Circuit lacks jurisdiction to consider whether the district court properly ruled in favor of the employer and the company on claims brought by the former employee alleging violations of the Florida Public Whistleblower Act, the False Claims Act and the Florida Private Whistleblower Act. The district court refused to find in favor of the employer and company on a claim for tortious interference with business relations. The ex-employee alleged that she was fired for reporting to the employer and company that the company's prison pharmacies were incorrectly logging a drug used to treat Hepatitis C as a narcotic. The district court's order did not dispose of all of the ex-employee's claims against the company. The tortious interference claim remains open and overlaps with the dismissed counts, therefore there is no final judgment for the 11th Circuit to review with respect to the company.
Court: 11th Circuit, Judge: Marcus, Filed On: October 17, 2023, Case #: 21-14214, Categories: Jurisdiction, whistleblowers, employment Retaliation
J. Cullen grants the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Farm Service Agency employees' motion to dismiss. The former county executive director alleged she was fired in retaliation for reporting evidence suggesting that some farmers were submitting fraudulent applications for the forage program, which operates effectively as an insurance program for farmers to cover losses from low crop yields. Despite the availability of USDA administrative hearing and appeal procedures, the former director failed to allege that she pursued these procedures before bringing this
action.
Court: USDC Western District of Virginia, Judge: Cullen , Filed On: October 5, 2023, Case #: 4:22cv13, NOS: False Claims Act - Torts - Personal Injury, Categories: False Claims, whistleblowers, employment Retaliation
J. Ives finds the lower court erroneously granted the state's motion for summary judgment on the corrections officer's whistleblower and retaliation complaint. The New Mexico Whistleblower Protection Act does not exclude claims based on statements made through the normal chain of command or statements that do not involve a specific public interest. Additionally, even though the officer was not demoted after he reported being assaulted by several officers and his lieutenant, there is a question of fact as to whether his transfer to the mailroom, which deprived him of any opportunity to work overtime, constituted a retaliatory action. Reversed.
Court: New Mexico Court of Appeals, Judge: Ives, Filed On: August 29, 2023, Case #: A-1-CA-39774, Categories: Evidence, whistleblowers, employment Retaliation
J. Alston denies the fiber optic cable company's motion to dismiss the employee's retaliation claim. The employee, who alleges he was fired for noting that the company was not complying with federal regulations when supplying cables, plausibly alleged facts that he was engaging in protected activity by pointing out the noncompliance.
Court: USDC Eastern District of Virginia, Judge: Alston, Filed On: August 23, 2023, Case #: 1:22cv521, NOS: Other Labor Litigation - Labor, Categories: Employment, whistleblowers, employment Retaliation
J. Ranjan finds that a University of Pittsburgh Medical Center cardiothoracic surgeon and surgical resident are entitled to legal defense under their employer’s liability policy from defamation claims by the chair of the hospital’s cardiothoracic surgery department, alleging the couple illegally obtained evidence with which to start a retaliatory smear campaign against him after he discovered their workplace romantic affair and reassigned them to separate work areas. The court finds that because it is within the doctor’s job description to ensure the safety of their patients, the hospital insurer has a duty to defend them from allegations relevant to their job duties, such as accessing patient medical records to facilitate a medical malpractice claim from a botched lung transplant, and bugging an exam room to record a conversation between the department chair and his physician about his own Suboxone use.
Court: USDC Western District of Pennsylvania, Judge: Ranjan, Filed On: July 31, 2023, Case #: 2:22cv1042, NOS: Insurance - Contract, Categories: Insurance, whistleblowers, employment Retaliation
J. Jenkins partially grants an Illinois' city's motion for summary judgment on employment discrimination and retaliation claims brought by one of its former employees. That former employee objected to the city converting her finance director position from part-time hourly to full-time salaried, its decision to fire her when she refused to work the longer hours for less money, and its move to outsource its finance department to a private firm. The court dismisses her claims brought under the Equal Protection Clause, the Illinois Human Rights Act and the First Amendment, but allows her gender discrimination, Illinois Whistleblower Act and retaliatory termination claims to proceed.
Court: USDC Northern District of Illinois, Judge: Jenkins, Filed On: June 29, 2023, Case #: 1:18cv2475, NOS: Employment - Civil Rights, Categories: Employment Discrimination, whistleblowers, employment Retaliation
J. Wilson permits a city sanitation manager to continue whistleblower retaliation claims contending Harrisburg mayor Wanda Williams fired him for refusing to create superfluous job positions for her son, nephew, and other family members within his department. The employee's speech was protected because he reported the alleged wrongdoing as a citizen, not as a government employee.
Court: USDC Middle District of Pennsylvania, Judge: Wilson, Filed On: June 29, 2023, Case #: 1:22cv1474, NOS: Civil Rights - Habeas Corpus, Categories: Employment, whistleblowers, employment Retaliation
J. Gesner denies a U.S. Patent Office staff member’s motion for default judgment following his claims of constitutional violations, including whistleblower protections, against the office for failure to state a claim. The staffer alleges that while employed there, he reported multiple computer security law violations by the office and was fired shortly thereafter. But he fails to present plausible evidence that the office fired him in retaliation.
Court: USDC Maryland, Judge: Gesnet, Filed On: June 22, 2023, Case #: 1:22cv2360, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: Employment, whistleblowers, employment Retaliation
J. Smith finds that the lower court properly granted summary judgment in favor of the school district in this lawsuit asserting a retaliation claim under the Texas Whistleblower Act. The school district sufficiently established its affirmative defense, arguing that the former employee "would have been, and was, terminated for substantiated misconduct." Affirmed.
Court: Texas Courts of Appeals, Judge: Smith, Filed On: June 21, 2023, Case #: 05-22-00384-CV, Categories: Civil Procedure, whistleblowers, employment Retaliation
J. Schroeder denies, in part, a university's motion to dismiss an individual's claims related to the school's decision not to hire her as a fencing coach. She has sufficiently pleaded allegations to support her claim for discrimination and retaliation based on the school's attempt to blackball her due, in part, to the fact she is a sexual assault victim and whistleblower.
Court: USDC Middle District of North Carolina, Judge: Schroeder, Filed On: June 13, 2023, Case #: 1:22cv513, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: Employment Discrimination, whistleblowers, employment Retaliation
J. McShane denies summary judgment to the department of corrections for the corrections officer's claim that another officer sexually assaulted her, leading her to resign when rumors circulated that she consensually slept with the other officer to advance her career. A jury could reasonably assume that the corrections officer's co-workers retaliated against her for filing her complaint because the rumors and hostile work environment happened on a regular basis for nearly a year, to the point that she had to take leave multiple times to handle her anxiety and panic attacks, and the department of corrections' refusal to investigate the rumors could be construed as retaliation.
Court: USDC Oregon, Judge: McShane, Filed On: May 23, 2023, Case #: 6:21cv1267, NOS: Employment - Civil Rights, Categories: Employment Discrimination, whistleblowers, employment Retaliation