§ 6.9.3 Whistleblower Protection under the Arizona Employment Protection Act (EPA)

• Jurisdiction: Arizona

§ 6.9.3 Whistleblower Protection under the Arizona Employment Protection Act (EPA). Arizona employees in the private sector are granted statutory protection against the termination of the employment relationship in retaliation for the disclosure by the employee "in a reasonable manner" that the employee has "a reasonable belief" that the employer has violated, is violating, or will violate the Constitution of Arizona or the statutes of this state.⁴⁶ Notably, the EPA does not address the disclosure of information pertaining to the violation or possible violation of the United States Constitution, federal statutes or either federal or state regulations. In Galati v. America West Airlines,⁴⁷ the court of appeals held that the claim of a flight attendant based on his having reported conduct allegedly inconsistent with regulations of the Federal Aviation Administration had been properly dismissed by the trial court because it had not been premised on reported violations of Arizona law.

In 2012, the legislature may have removed public employees from the protection of the EPA, instead requiring that any whistleblower protection by public employees could only be sought under A.R.S. § 38-531 et seq.⁴⁸ The legislature left intact the provision in A.R.S. § 23-1501(2) that states "nothing in this paragraph shall be construed to affect the rights of public employees under the Constitution of Arizona and state and local laws of this state"⁴⁹ even though this would seem obvious since the statute elsewhere provides that it does not apply at all to public employees.

The EPA also makes no provision for protecting employees from retaliation other than termination. Constructive discharge claims would be considered to be termination for purposes of the whistleblower protection under the EPA.⁵⁰

While the legislature sought...