After working for a company for over 10 years, another employee and I reported our manager in January 2006 for coming in to work 3-4 times a week hung over to extreme measures. His office smelled like a brewery and he looked horrible, like he had been thru the ringer. He would come in late, take up to 2 hour power lunches for no good reason (not work related) then leave early like anywhere from .5 to 1.5 hours early. This had been going on for years (5-6) and HR and other mgmt in the building seemed to be oblivious to his activity. So, we reported him to HR about his conduct. He was confronted and had his hands slapped. His activity continued and HR continued to not watch him or his conduct. This manager turned cold towards his whole department (3 employees) and would walk in sit in his office which was only 30 feet away and not speak to anyone day in and day out except for maybe an occasional "hi". We could go a couple of days and he would have no conversation to any of us( no, this is now against the law). .....fast forward 12 months later...
In January 2007 this same manager was found to have company product for sale on his own personal ebay account and paypal account. He was having the warehouse manager send product out with no packing list, which would be the only way our system could track money coming in and to where it needed to be applied. The warehouse manager discussed his actions to the customer service rep who discussed this with a regional salesman. No one was told what he intent was and why he was doing this. From all indications, it appeared he was stealing. We found his name and transactions on ebay so we knew he was really doing this.
I reported this activity to HR ...(BIG mistake, since they did nothing after the first time I reported him and could have witnessed first hand his continued activity I mentioned above continued even AFTER he was confronted...yes HR is a bunch of ostriches...they stick their head in the ground....anyway)
Three weeks later my managers manager confronted him about the Ebay thing. He was able to somehow spin it back that I was trying to get rid of him. Five hours later on the same day, my manager terminated me on grounds "I failed to follow chain of command". This all based on the Ebay incident. Now, who in their right mind is going to go to their manager when they suspect along with everyone else in the division, he is stealing?? There was no discussion, just given my final check and told to get my things and leave the office. Mind you I have NEVER be written up, documented for anything EVER. It does say in the California Employee Law code book it is the employee's duty to report theft or suspected theft to the company. However, if you have any business ethics or moral fiber running thru your body, you would know any individual displaying conduct that represents or highly suspect of theft must be reported. Sooooo, does this sound like an illegal termination?? I could go on and give you facts on how this fine piece of work manager has conducted himself only to have HR put their heads in the sand. Any thoughts or ideas if I appear to have a case and should pursue legal counsel? (Final note: this manager is a classic "Bully" as defined at the website: http://www.angelfire.com/ne/biby/hostile-work-enviroment-psychological-violence-workplace.html) Thanks!

Except that at the present time such bullying is NOT illegal under US law, regardless of what it might be in other countries.

CA law is a little different from that of most states so if a CA expert disagrees with me I'll defer to them, but at least in most states the report of illegal activity has to be to the appropriate regulatory agency before it is protected; internal complaints don't count. If that's the case, this is not an illegal termination.

Thanks for your input.
Its sure amazing what managers can and do get away with after all I have read to help me make sense of my experience. I have been a manager myself for two large retail home improvement centers on the west coast (both went out of business) and never was this type of behavior I have seen and experienced tolerated. I know my manager retaliated for reporting him, so in the future, given the same circumstances, I plan to let others who in my case knew about his activity before me report it. I will just quietly move on to another job like I have seen others do with other managers in this same company. HR in my case was powerless. They are equivilent to a mad dog with no teeth.....harmless. For those who have never been wrongly terminated, I would equate it to being physically violated. It makes you feel dirty and only over time does the dirt slowly lift away. I felt like the criminal when asked, "Why are you no longer working for this company?"
I know this manager will probably never change his ways. I now understand when people say, "it has nothing to do with the money", even if this involved a large sum (but this would be Civil Law, so no big money would come in to play if I did have a case.) Its completely the justice being served and removing hopefully most of the dirt one feels, even though they (or I in this case) did nothing wrong. I should have seen the light the first time around when I reported him, but my conscious could not bear the thought he was stealing company product for his own personal gain.
However, I do believe one day this managers wretched ways will catch up to him. I know I tried to do what was right. I will certainly tread more lightly in the future on situations like I recently experienced.

I agree that you got a raw deal. I just don't see it as illegal. As I said, if someone knows some CA statute that this violates, I'll be just as happy to be proved wrong.

Generally what goes around comes around.

I don’t see any law protect you from being fired for making internal complaint since it’s not statutory protected by State or Fed. However, you may consult with legal for wrongful termination resulting from whistle-blowing retaliation.

Anyone have other inputs on this topic..???

:confused:

If the company allows an alcoholic, unproductive, thieving manager to stay on the job and allows the discharge of a loyal, productive employee, it is not a good place to work.

I doubt you have a case, but you could try contacting your state equivalent of the EEOC about being fired for whistleblowing. True, you did not report the theft to a government agency, but my belief is that it is wrong to fire someone for reporting internally when the same report filed elsewhere would be protected.

Whether they take the case or not, dust off your resume and find a new job. You really don't want to work there.

I don't understand how it can be legal to fire an employee for "Failing to follow chain of command" when the report went to HR. If California law says an employee has a duty to report stealing and they do and ultimately get fired for it, what gives? If employees are not going to be protected for reporting this type of act, they stand in a lose/lose proposition. They are put in a very bad position. If I would have been written up over this I would have let this manager do as he pleases from there on out since the company had shown nothing about trying to correct the problems and just do my job the best I can. Period. They could have taken the information from Ebay and never mentioned my name, but no they didn't. I told HR there was a lot of things my manager did and only watch for themsevles. Don't take my word for it I told them. Like standing at a bus stop. You stand there long enough you will see the bus come by. Well, they only needed to watch him a while and they would see his behavior and actions themselves which I was telling them about. So who is an employee accountable to? The company or his manager? I always showed respect and red alert detail to any and all requests he made from me concerning projects he needed me to work on. Positive attitude is everything! I only attacked the problem and NEVER the person, which I learned as a manager in a different company. This manager was made of teflon and regardless of the law and employee responsibility I will certainly tread more lightly in future circumstances which parallel the incident which got me terminated. I think my manager would have to be dumping toxic waste by the barrel into the local river with photographic evidence for me to report him in the future. Where is the ethics and moral fiber of managers and cmpanies these days?
If you should find yourself in a simular situation, ask yourself, "what risks, financial or career wise, are you willing to take if reporting your boss turns around and bites you"? Does your HR department show no patience for dishonest conduct, cheating, stealing, hostile enviroments or poor manager behavior? Do they promote bad managers or cut them loose like a cancerous liason?
Just be careful before moving forward with any reporting of your managers actions or behavior.

I've had a chance to look up the CA whistleblowing statutes.

The law specifies that reports TO A GOVERNMENT AGENCY are protected. It says nothing about protecting internal complaints.

http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/cgi-bin/displaycode?section=lab&group=01001-02000&file=1101-1106

In the absence of additional information to the contrary, I stand by my original answer.

Can you provide the labor code you are claiming requires you to report this? I'd like to see it for myself to see if it changes my answer.

ScottB, I would agree with you 100%! I have had numerous people tell me the same thing. Its very difficult emotionally to know I was trying to do the right thing only to get terminated. That was tough. Its like being falsely accused. It made me feel dirty like I did something wrong, even though I did nothing wrong. I have recently spoken with a lawyer who deals with Civil law (employment hostile/retaliation terminations) I gave her all the info accuartely as I could about my case, whether it sided with me 100% or not to see if I have a case. I am waiting to hear back from her. I am certainly not the sue happly/get a lawyer type, but if I can do anything to make someone take notice of this manager and his conduct then at least I could feel I made some headway on this ugly incident.
Thanks for your response. Its appreciated!

CBG
Try this link about employees duty to report theft:

http://www.edd.ca.gov/uibdg/umc45.htm#mc45d

As I stated, I don't think you have a case and cbg pointed out that the CA statutes don't protect internal complaints. I don't particularly like that, but that is the law and the law will only protect what it is intended to protect and no more.

If you have seen an attorney, she will be the best one to advise you.

CBG
Try this link about employees duty to report theft:

http://www.edd.ca.gov/uibdg/umc45.htm#mc45d

That is about eligibility for unemployment.

If the company FIRED you for NOT reporting the theft, you would likely be disqualified from getting unemployment benefits.

That is not the same as saying that California requires you to report employee theft.

What is interesting (and a part I have never really understood) is that the government agency you contact will ask you if you have tried to solve the problem internally. It does not cover if, when brought up internally, you were fired for bringing it up.

There is nothing that says you still can't report to a government agency... or, even, the police.

Scott is correct. If you are reading this to mean that CA law makes it mandatory for you to report theft to your employer and that doing so is a protected activity, then, I'm sorry, but you are reading it wrong.

I still think you got a raw deal. I still think your employer acted legally, even though I don't approve of the way they handled it. I still think you do not have a claim for wrongful termination.

I agree that an attorney who is in possession of ALL the facts is in the best position to advise you from here.

Thanks ScottB and CyJeff! Its just unfortuante some companies business ethics and morals are in the toilet. I should have seen some of the signs (which were there) a long time ago and made some career changes back then. As good managers left the company over the years the work enviroment has only deterioted. But like a lot of people, in fact, some who still work under the same bully manager I worked under, haven't made any effort to find a new job. They get comfortable with their daily routine even though they may work under a manager who is controlling, angry, alcoholic, bullying and will occasionally yell, swear, accuse when in his Jekyl & Hyde moods.
P.S. - He is only 37 years old!!