The crux of a whistleblower claim is that you came forward or helped someone else come forward about a violation and experienced an adverse action. For example, you could have notified your Arizona employer that your employer is discriminating against another employee. In response, your employer may have fired you, docked your pay, or failed to schedule you for sufficient (or any) hours.

In this scenario, you may be eligible to file a Discrimination/Whistleblower claim with the Arizona Department of Occupational Safety and Health within the Industrial Commission of Arizona.

To prove that you suffered an adverse action because you spoke up about a violation, you can use evidence such as:

• The timing of the adverse action (i.e., receiving a termination notice) compared to when you came forward
• Comments that your employer told you or someone else about why you were or are going to be fired

In most instances, employers will not necessarily be upfront about their true motivation for firing or retaliating against someone. They may try to pass it off as being due to vague performance issues. To combat this, you can provide evidence of either positive or a lack of negative reviews to prove the employer’s account is inaccurate.

A whistleblower and retaliation attorney serves as your advocate, fighting for your interests and helping to shield you from further adverse actions.