Sonoma Whistleblower Wins $1.35M in Wrongful Termination Lawsuit

After a decade-long legal battle, Dr. Van Pena won $1.35 million from the California’s state-run Sonoma Developmental Center for wrongful termination in connection with his attempts to report “gross medical negligence” in 2000, Petaluma360 reported.

Dr. Pena had worked at Sonoma Developmental Center, a full time care facility for over a thousand developmentally disabled adults, for ten years.  In 2000, he reported “gross medical negligence” to center officials and, after receiving no response, turned to the media and state lawmakers.  Later that year he was fired, supposedly for refusing to perform CPR on a 90-year-old patient, but Dr. Pena maintained it was for his whistleblowing activities.  California law prohibits the termination of an employee for reporting improper governmental activity.

The Sonoma Developmental Center was the subject of a series of articles by California Watch, detailing abuse, neglect and sexual assault of the patients there.  The center was stripped of its license to operate last year, although it continues to operate under a new director.

The Chanler Group, in association with the Hirst Law Group, represents whistleblowers who take action under the False Claims Act to report fraud committed against the federal and state governments.  We have years of experience representing whistleblower clients who expose every kind of fraud against the government, including health care fraud, contract fraud, and tax fraud.  Read more about our expertise in False Claims Act cases and how you can take action.