You cannot terminate an employee because they exercised a right granted by a state or federal statute or certain administrative regulations. .

Typically, employee anti-retaliation claims occur when an employee refuses to violate the law, for example, disposing of hazardous waste improperly or accepting less than the minimum wage or mandatory overtime rate, or when an employee “ blows the whistle ” to a government agency on an employer believed to be violating the law. Whistleblower claims are continually on the rise. For more information, see Whistleblower Protection.

Anti-retaliation laws include:

Affordable Care Act (ACA)1
American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 20092
Bankruptcy Reform Act of 19783
California Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1973 (Cal/OSHA)4
Clean Air Act of 19775
Consumer Credit Protection Act of 19686
Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act of 20087
Employee Polygraph Protection Act of 19888
Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA)9
Energy Reorganization Act of 197410
Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA)11
Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 (FLSA)12
Fair Pay Act13
Federal Corporate and Criminal Fraud Accountability Act (Sarbanes-Oxley Act) of 2002, protection for whistleblowers14
National Labor Relations Act (NLRA)15
Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 (OSHA)16
Protection of Juror’s Employment Act17
Railroad Safety Act18
Surface Transportation Assistance Act19
Title VII, Civil Rights Act of 1964 (Title VII)20
Water Pollution Control Act21
Protection for wage claimants22
Protection for the industrially injured (workers’ compensation)23
Protection for Medi-Cal recipients24
Protection against unfair immigration related practices25
Protection for holding a driver's license granted under Vehicle Code section 12901.9 for undocumented workers26
Right of employees to disclose information to a government or law enforcement agency27
Right of state employees to “blow the whistle” on illegal activity28

For more information on retaliation, see Retaliation.

1. 29 USC sec. 218c

2. section 1553 of Division A, Title XV, American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, P.L. 111-5

3. 11 U.S.C. 525(b)

4. Lab. Code secs. 6310-6312

5. 42 U.S.C. 7622(a)

6. 15 U.S.C. 1674

7. 29 CFR 1983.102

8. 29 U.S.C. 2001-2009

9. 29 U.S.C. 1140

10. 42 U.S.C. 5851

11. Govt. Code sec. 12940(3)

12. 29 U.S.C. 215(a)(3)

13. Lab. Code sec. 1197.5

14. 18 U.S.C. 1514A

15. 29 U.S.C. 158(a)(4)

16. 29 U.S.C. 660(c)

17. 28 U.S.C. 1875

18. 45 U.S.C. 441

19. 29 CFR 1978.102

20. 42 U.S.C. 2000e-3(a)

21. 33 U.S.C. 1367

22. Lab. Code secs. 98.6, 98.7

23. Lab. Code sec. 132(a)

24. Govt. Code sec. 13084

25. Lab. Code sec. 1019

26. Veh. Code sec. 12901.9

27. Lab. Code sec. 1102.5

28. Lab. Code sec. 1102.5; Govt. Code secs. 8547 et seq.

Anti-Retaliation Statutes

When You Cannot Terminate