Mark T. Quigley

El Segundo • Labor & Employment

With a career spanning three decades, Mark T. Quigley is known for safeguarding whistleblower rights and championing the cause of workers who have suffered discrimination, termination, or retaliation due to illegal employment practices.

One of his recent achievements was a $39 million verdict secured in a high-profile whistleblower retaliation case on behalf of a doctor who faced retaliation and contract nonrenewal by UC San Diego. Murphy v. The Regents of the University of California, 37-2020-00032541-CU-BT-CTL (S.D. Sup. Ct., filed Sept. 16, 2020).

Dr. Kevin Murphy blew the whistle on the alleged diversion of a $10 million research fund to the Moores Cancer Center at UCSD without his consent. This case shed light on the University of California's misconduct and its failure to protect whistleblowers despite their promises of safeguarding them from retaliation.

"This case was significant because it holds the government accountable where you have clear policies that encourage, if not require, UC employees to report improper government activities or conduct that is a risk to patient safety with the promise that if they do so, they will be protected by the university or the regents -- from any form of retaliation. But unfortunately, in my experience, I have found the opposite to be true. Despite the promise of protection from retaliation, the regents then go after the whistleblower as they did in the Murphy case."

In another case, Quigley obtained a $2.1 million verdict and $3.2 million in attorney's fees in a whistleblower retaliation trial against the county of Los Angeles on behalf of Dr. Timothy Ryan, a vascular surgeon. Ryan v. Los Angeles County, BC606535 (L.A. Sup. Ct., filed Jan. 8, 2016). Dr. Ryan had blown the whistle on unlawful activities compromising patient safety, which ultimately led to his retaliation.

Quigley recognizes the evolving trends in the field and emphasizes the need to address challenges in whistleblower retaliation cases, not only against government entities, but also private organizations with their own whistleblower policies.

"California whistleblower statutes are intended to protect the employee, but it is usually the employer that does the investigation and, in effect, it is literally pointing the finger at itself, saying we did the wrong thing here; we're guilty, and you're likely never going to get them to do that," he said. "We need to require employers to get truly independent investigators involved so the employees get a fair shake."