Supported by CNPA, SB 650 by Senator Leland Yee (D-San Francisco), would overturn a recent California Supreme Court ruling that said UC employees cannot sue for damages under the state’s whistleblower protection laws, so long as the university itself reviews the complaints in a timely fashion. SB 650 would give UC employees the same rights as employees of the CSU and the state.
The bill would overturn the California Supreme Court's decision in Miklosy v. The Regents of the University of California, which held that an employee of the UC who is a whistleblower cannot sue for retaliation where the University made a timely decision on the retaliation complaint.
Governor Schwarzenegger vetoed a similar measure last year saying he strongly supported correcting the problem but the bill failed to extend to UC employees the same protections as provided for CSU employees. Although, SB 650 has specifically addressed the governor’s concerns, he has not yet taken a position on the issue.
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