Short answer: It depends on whether your employer's internal rules actually give you a way to bring a whistleblower retaliation complaint — not just a way to appeal the firing. If they don't, California law says you can go straight to court. That is what the Court of Appeal held in a case I argued, Romero v. County of Kern (2025) 116 Cal.App.5th 1189, and it changes the answer for a lot of public employees in California.

The problem public employees run into

Here is the pattern I see over and over.

A firefighter, a nurse at a county hospital, a public-works employee, a school-district administrator reports something — a safety violation, misuse of funds, an illegal order. Months later they are written up, investigated, and fired for “policy violations.” They hire a lawyer and sue for whistleblower retaliation under California Labor Code section 1102.5.

The public employer's first move is almost always the same: You didn't finish your civil-service appeal, so the court has no jurisdiction. Case dismissed.

That argument comes from a real rule. California requires you to “exhaust administrative remedies” before you sue — if the agency has a procedure for hearing your complaint, you have to use it first. Public employers have leaned on that rule for years to get whistleblower cases thrown out before a jury ever hears them.

What happened in Romero

Anthony Romero was a Kern County fire captain with more than twenty years on the job and strong performance reviews. In January 2020 he discovered the fire extinguishers on the County's engines were being improperly serviced. He complained to his battalion chief, then in writing to the deputy chief, citing the regulations he believed were being violated.

He was banned from working in fire prevention. Then he was investigated. Then, in October 2022, he was fired for “violations of Kern County Civil Service Commission and Fire Department rules.”

Romero did not appeal his termination to the Civil Service Commission. He filed a claim under the Government Claims Act, then sued the County for whistleblower retaliation under Labor Code sections 1102.5, 6310, and 98.6.

The County moved for judgment on the pleadings — a dismissal before any evidence is heard — arguing he was required to appeal to the Commission first. The trial court agreed and threw the case out.

What the Court of Appeal decided

The Fifth District reversed, and certified the opinion for publication so it binds trial courts statewide.

The court looked closely at what Kern County's civil-service rules actually do. They let a fired employee appeal the discipline — the Commission decides whether the employee committed the alleged misconduct and whether the order should be affirmed, revoked, or modified. But nothing in the rules requires the Commission to accept, evaluate, or resolve a claim that the firing was retaliation for whistleblowing. The County even conceded the Commission “need not address” a retaliation argument.

That was the whole case. A procedure that doesn't have to hear your claim isn't a remedy for that claim. As the court put it, the County's own position “proves the point — the Commission is not required to accept, evaluate, and resolve a whistleblower retaliation claim.” So there was nothing for Romero to exhaust, and his lawsuit could proceed.

Notably, Kern County's rules do have a detailed procedure for discrimination and harassment complaints. Whistleblower retaliation was simply left out. That gap is what freed Romero from the exhaustion requirement.

What this means for you

1. Read your agency's rules before you assume you're stuck. The question is not “does my employer have an appeal process?” Almost every public employer does. The question is whether that process is required to decide a whistleblower retaliation claim. Many county and city civil-service systems look like Kern County's — a disciplinary appeal and a discrimination procedure, with nothing that covers retaliation for reporting wrongdoing. If that's your employer, Romerois your case.

2. Some employers do have a whistleblower procedure — and there you must use it. The California Supreme Court held in Campbell v. Regents of University of California (2005) 35 Cal.4th 311 that a UC employee had to exhaust the university's internal whistleblower complaint process before suing, because UC had adopted specific procedures for exactly that kind of complaint. If your employer has one, skipping it can end your case. This is why the rules matter, and why it's worth having a lawyer read them before you decide anything.

3. The Government Claims Act is separate, and the clock is short. Even when no internal appeal is required, a lawsuit against a California public entity for Labor Code retaliation generally requires a written claim to the entity first — and the deadline can be as short as six months from the date you were fired. Romero did this correctly. Many people don't find out about it until the window has closed.

4. Don't withdraw an appeal, or start one, without advice. Romero had filed and then withdrawn a Civil Service Commission complaint years earlier when a fire chief promised the retaliation would be handled internally. It didn't hurt him here, but in a different agency with different rules it could have. What you do in the first weeks after a termination shapes the whole case.

Who this applies to

Romero is a California Court of Appeal decision and applies to employees of California cities, counties, special districts, and other public agencies whose civil-service rules don't provide a whistleblower-retaliation procedure. It does not apply to private-sector employees — different rules, usually simpler. And it does not apply to federal employees, who have their own system.

If you were fired, demoted, or forced out of a California public job after reporting a violation of law or a safety problem, the two questions I'll answer on a free call are: do your agency's rules require you to appeal first, and how much time is left on your claim deadline.

Book a free 15-minute case review or Call/Text (805) 630-3245

Free. Confidential. No attorney's fee unless we win.

Andrew S. Pletcher of Pletcher Law, APC, Westlake Village, represented Anthony Romero on appeal in collaboration with D. Aaron Brock and Jesse S. Stratos of Brock & Gonzales. Mr. Pletcher wrote the appellant's briefs and argued the case before the Court of Appeal. Read the opinion: Romero v. County of Kern, F088325 (Cal. Ct. App. Dec. 15, 2025).

This post is general information about California law, not legal advice, and reading it does not create an attorney-client relationship. Every case turns on its own facts and its own agency's rules. Attorney advertising — Pletcher Law, APC · Andrew S. Pletcher, State Bar No. 299437 · Westlake Village, CA.