The California Supreme Court granted whistle-blowers in state government protection on Thursday in a case where a low-level employee reported that her superior had violated a regulation she was supposed to enforce.
“The Legislature enacted the California Whistleblower Protection Act to protect the right of state employees ‘to report waste, fraud, abuse of authority, violation of law or threat to public health without fear of retribution,’ ” Justice Joyce L. Kennard wrote for a unanimous court.
“In adopting the act, the Legislature expressly found ‘that public servants best serve the citizenry when they can be candid and honest without reservation in conducting the people’s business.'”