The School District prohibits any form of retaliation against, or intimidation of, any employee or agent for filing a bona fide report within the School District under this policy, requesting clarification about applicable laws or regulations, giving notice of non-compliance or wrongdoing regarding matters covered by this policy, assisting or participating in any investigation regarding compliance matters, or filing a report with a governmental agency. Persons who engage in such retaliation shall be subject to discipline.
Reports of non-compliance or wrongdoing regarding matters covered by this policy may be made anonymously, but the School District encourages employees to identify themselves in order to aid in the investigative process. Employees who report suspected problems will be assured that retaliation for making such report is prohibited and that an individual who subjects an employee to such retaliation or intimidation will be subject to discipline under this policy.
If, after investigating any report, the School District determines that the report is not bona fide, or that an employee has provided false information regarding such report, disciplinary action may be taken against the individual who filed the report or gave the false information. However, no employee shall be subject to disciplinary action solely on the basis that he or she mistakenly reported what he or she reasonably believed to be an act of wrongdoing or a violation of law or of the School District’s compliance standards or policies. An employee will be subject to disciplinary action only if it is determined that the report of wrongdoing was knowingly or willfully fabricated by the employee or was knowingly or willfully distorted, exaggerated, or minimized to either injure someone else or to protect himself or herself. An employee “knowingly” provides false information if he or she knows or reasonably should know that the information is false or intentionally or recklessly disregards whether or not the information is false.