Can an employer terminate an employee for having made a complaint to their employer about unsafe working conditions?

California, United States of America


The following excerpt is from Sumen v. Silver Star A.G., Ltd., B280523 (Cal. App. 2018):

An employer may presumptively terminate an employee at will and for no reason. (Lab. Code, 2922.)1 "A fortiori, the employer may act peremptorily, arbitrarily, or inconsistently, without providing specific protections such as prior warning, fair procedures, objective evaluation, or preferential reassignment." (Guz v. Bechtel Nat., Inc. (2000) 24 Cal.4th 317, 350 (Guz).) But the Labor Code makes it unlawful to discharge or discriminate against an employee for having "[m]ade any oral or written complaint to . . . his or her employer" about unsafe working conditions. ( 6310, subd. (a)(1).)2

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