Miklosy

The California Whistleblower Protection Act (Gov. Code, § 8547 et seq.) 1 (hereafter the Whistleblower Act or the Act) prohibits retaliation against state employees who “report waste, fraud, abuse of authority, violation of law, or threat to public health” (§ 8547.1). The Act authorizes “an action for damages” to redress acts of retaliation. (§§ 8547.8, subd. (c), 8547.10, subd. (c), 8547.12, subd. (c).) But in the case of retaliation against a University of California employee, the Act provides that “any action for damages shall not be available . . . unless the injured, party has first filed a complaint with the [designated] university officer . . . , and the university has failed to reach a decision regarding that complaint within the time limits established for that purpose by the regents.” (§ 8547.10, subd. (c), italics added.) We conclude, as did the Court of Appeal, that this statutory language means what it says, precluding a damages action when, as here, the University of California has timely decided a retaliation complaint.

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Because this case comes before us on appeal from a judgment sustaining a demurrer, we assume the truth of the facts alleged in the…

I agree with the majority that Government Code section 8547.10, subdivision (c) must be read as precluding a whistle-blower from bringing a damages action against the University of California (University) when that person has made an internal complaint to the University and the University has reached a timely adverse decision finding its own actions did not constitute retaliation for a protected disclosure in violation of Government Code section 8547.10. 1 (Maj. opn., ante, at p. 898.) Like the majority, I reach this conclusion because the statute unambiguously states that a damages action following an internal complaint of retaliation for whistleblowing is not available “unless ... the university has failed to reach a decision regarding that complaint within the time limits established for that purpose by the regents.” (§ 8547.10, subd. (c).)

I write separately because, unlike the majority, I do not find this result “reasonable in light of the unique constitutional status of the University of California.” (Maj. opn., ante, at p. 889.) To the contrary, this literal reading will act powerfully to defeat the purposes of the California Whistleblower Protection Act (§ 8547 et seq.)…