Court rejects Deloitte’s attempt to evade liability for employment retaliation against UCLA whistleblower

December 7, 2023 – Today Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Colin P. Leis rejected Deloitte’s attempt to dismiss whistleblower retaliation claims brought against both the consulting giant and UCLA by firm client Omar Noorzai, the former Executive Director of UCLA’s Business Transformation Office.

Noorzai initiated the legal action earlier this year, alleging that he was demoted and fired in retaliation for uncovering and objecting to a scheme to funnel potentially tens of millions of dollars of consulting work at UCLA to Deloitte in violation of California’s competitive bidding laws.

The lawsuit, filed by firm attorneys Randy Erlewine, Brian Conlon, and Kyle O’Malley, asserts claims directly against both UCLA and Deloitte under the California Whistleblower Protection Act (WPA) and section 1102.5 of the California Labor Code, as well as claims that Deloitte aided and abetted UCLA in its violations of the statutes. While the Court dismissed the 1102.5 claims against Deloitte, it agreed with Plaintiffs that the WPA claims against Deloitte could proceed—even though Deloitte was not Mr. Noorzai’s employer.

Judge Leis’s rejection of Deloitte Consulting's motion to dismiss adopts the firm’s arguments that state employees may bring claims under the WPA against entities who do not employ them—a result consistent with the firm’s recent victory in Raines v. USHW, where a unanimous California Supreme Court held that business-entity agents acting on behalf of an employer may be directly liable for their violations of employees’ rights under a similar statute, the Fair Employment and Housing Act. Firm lawyer Kyle O’Malley argued the motion.