Lawson

Opinion of the Court by Kruger, J.

The question in this case concerns the proper method for presenting and evaluating a claim of whistleblower retaliation under Labor Code section 1102.5. Since 2003, the Labor Code has prescribed a framework: Once an employee-whistleblower establishes by a preponderance of the evidence that retaliation was a contributing factor in the employee’s termination, demotion, or other adverse action, the employer then bears the burden of demonstrating by clear and convincing evidence that it would have taken the same action “for legitimate, independent reasons.” (Lab. Code, § 1102.6, added by Stats. 2003, ch. 484, § 3, pp. 3518–3519.) But in the years since section 1102.6 became law, some courts have persisted in instead applying a well-worn, but meaningfully different, burden- shifting framework borrowed from the United States Supreme Court’s decision in McDonnell Douglas Corp. v. Green (1973) 411 U.S. 792 (McDonnell Douglas). Noting the lack of uniformity, the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit has asked us to decide which of these frameworks governs section 1102.5 retaliation claims. Unsurprisingly, we conclude courts should apply…