Campbell

In this action, we address whether an employee of the Regents of the University of California (the Regents) must exhaust university internal administrative remedies before filing suit in superior court for retaliatory termination under either Government Code section 12653, subdivision (c), or Labor Code section 1102.5, sometimes called the “whistleblower” statutes. We conclude the exhaustion rule requires university employees to exhaust university administrative remedies before proceeding to suit. We therefore affirm the judgment of the Court of Appeal.

I. FACTUAL BACKGROUND

Appellant Janet Campbell worked for the Regents as a senior architect in the Architectural Design and Engineering Unit of the Facilities Management Department (FMD) at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF). The Regents, a state government entity, administer the University of California, including UCSF. (See California Medical Assn. v. Regents of University of California (2000) 79 Cal.App.4th 542, 544, fn. 1 [ 94 Cal.Rptr.2d 194 ].) Campbell’s job duties included reviewing architectural plans and specifications for all campus construction projects costing less than $250,000, to ensure…