A court in California ruled recently in a case in which a dental assistant alleged that she faced whistleblower retaliation, finding that her individual supervisors could not be held personally liable.
However, the Court of Appeal of the State of California, First Appellate District, Division Four, ruled in favor of Farzana Chaudhry, a dental assistant for the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR), overturning the lower court’s dismissal of the retaliation claim against the state and the CDCR, according to the order dated September 28.
“We will therefore affirm the judgment in part and reverse it in part,” the order states.
Beginning in 2018, Chaudhry, who worked as a dental assistant for the CDR at a prison medical facility in Vacaville, complained about contaminated protective equipment and unsafe working conditions to her supervisor and to the California Division of Occupational Safety and Health.
Chaudhry claimed that management retaliated against her. Supervisors, she claimed, unfairly criticized her work, yelled at her, and accused her of unsafe sterilization practices. Chaudhry was given a letter of instruction, an unpaid suspension, and several efforts were made to prevent Chaudhry from doing her job. Further, Chaudhry claimed supervisors refused to promote her, and she was terminated twice.
Eventually, Chaudhry resigned and filed a lawsuit in 2021 against California, CDR, and three supervisors, asserting a claim for retaliation under the state's whistleblower law, according to the order.
The trial court ruled in favor of all of the defendants.
The appeals court ruled that the alleged actions taken by supervisors against Chaudhry failed to rise to the level of a negative employment action.
