Whistleblower Complaints
The California Whistleblower Protection Act authorizes the California State Auditor to receive complaints from state employees and members of the public who wish to report an improper governmental activity. An "improper governmental activity" is defined as any action that violates the law, is economically wasteful, or involves gross misconduct, incompetency, or inefficiency.
The University President has appointed Anne Gorgan, Compliance Manager, as the University's Whistleblower contact. Provided below is information on the CSU Executive Order 1115 on Whistleblower Complaints. Details regarding Whistleblower Retaliation Complaints can be found on the Whistleblower Retaliation Complaints webpage.
Whistleblower Complaint
A Whistleblower Complaint comes from a person who tells the public or someone in authority about alleged dishonest or illegal activities occurring in a government department, a public or private organization, or a company. Complaints may be made internally to the organization or externally to regulators or those higher in the organization.
Types of Reported Activity
- Improper acts by a state employee
- Theft, fraud, or conflicts of interest by state employees
- Misuse or abuse, or anything that's wasteful of state property or employee time
- Gross misconduct, incompetence, or inefficiency by state employees
Your Protection From Retaliation
State Law:
- Protects your identity (except from law enforcement)
- Helps guard against intimidation, threats, or coercion by state employees that could interfere with your right to disclose improper government activities
- Helps keep you safe from reprisal, retaliation, threats, or coercion for reporting such information
How do I File a Whistleblower Complaint?
An employee or a third party may make a complaint to California State University, Fullerton, Anne Grogan, Compliance Manager or the CSU Vice Chancellor of Human Resources (The Chancellor’s Office). The complaint must be submitted no later than twelve (12) calendar months after the complainant knew or reasonably should have known of the event giving rise to the Protected Disclosure.
CSU employees or a third party may complete the Complaint Form (Executive Order 1115 Attachment A
) and send to the CSU Vice Chancellor of Human Resources (The Chancellor’s Office) or contact the University’s Compliance Manager, Anne Grogan at (657) 278-5465 or email agrogan@fullerton.edu with any questions or concerns.
Any individual may also File a Complaint
with the Bureau of State Audits by telephone at 1-800-952-5665 or by mail at Investigations, Bureau of State Audits, California State Auditor, 555 Capitol Mall, Suite 300, Sacramento, CA 95814.
Filling a Whistleblower Complaint:
The Whistleblower Complaint shall be in writing. The complainant may use any format that conforms to the requirements of this section. The disclosure must include the following information:
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The name and mailing address of the complainant, the complainant's working title, or position applied for if the complainant was an applicant for employment.
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A detailed description of the specific actions that constituted the alleged improper governmental activity or condition that may significantly threaten the health and safety of employees or the public, including the names(s) and title(s) of the CSU employee(s) or official(s) allegedly engaged in the improper governmental activity or responsible for the health and safety condition.
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The date(s) the alleged improper activities occurred or the condition developed.
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Other potential witnesses to the alleged improper activities or condition.
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Any documentation that supports the allegations of improper activities or of a threatening condition.
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Descriptions of documents that support the allegations of improper activities or of a threatening condition, if the actual documents are not in the possession of the complainant.
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The protected disclosure must be signed, dated, and contain a sworn statement under penalty of perjury that its contents are believed to be true.
