I work in a large dentist's office in Los Angeles, with many locations. I am a licensed dentist and I spoke with the owner about the fact that he should not be using unlicensed dentists. He said it was none of my business but I could lose my own dentist's license. I reported the problem to the State of California. I was fired within two days, and no reason was given for firing me. Is this a whistleblower's case?

-- John May (dentalregulations@yahoo.com), June 30, 2003

Answers

Getting fired for reporting illegal conduct by an employer is a classic "whistleblower" case. Other examples include: --being fired for refusing to violate the law; --being fired for reporting illegal acts by the company to 'higher channels' within the company.

-- Gerald P. Cunningham (gpc@lalabor.com), July 15, 2003.