UC San Diego Whistleblower Hotline and Poster

The University of California is committed to maintaining the highest standards of conduct in the fulfillment of its education, research, patient care, and public service missions. The university’s Whistleblower Policy provides multiple avenues for employees to bring forward concerns of potential employee misconduct. The university encourages faculty and staff to report concerns about possible improper governmental activity directly to their supervisor, department head, Locally Designated Official (LDO) or other appropriate university offices or officials, or to make reports through the whistleblower hotline.

The systemwide whistleblower hotline is independently operated to receive calls or web-based reporting from faculty, staff, students or members of the public. The hotline allows for anonymous reporting, forwarding reported concerns to appropriate university officials for processing. This hotline is staffed seven days a week, 24 hours per day and is capable of receiving reports in a number of different languages.

Reports can be made through the web-based form or by calling (800) 403-4744. More information about the whistleblower process can be found on the UC Whistleblower website and on posters displayed in various employee areas. The university’s Whistleblower Poster identifies other channels for reporting improper governmental activity, including the California State Auditor, the California Attorney General and federal whistleblower programs. These posters may also be viewed and printed from the UC San Diego Hotline Blink page.

The California Government Code requires every state agency, including the University of California, to annually distribute to its employees a message from the California State Auditor that provides an explanation of the California Whistleblower Protection Act. Please find the 2021 message below.

Pradeep K. Khosla
Chancellor

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The message below from the California State Auditor may also be viewed online.

YOU CAN REPORT IMPROPER ACTS

We are your confidential avenue for reporting improper activities by state agencies or employees. It is your responsibility, as a government employee, to report any type of fraud, waste, or abuse, which ultimately protects scarce state resources. It is also your right to be free from retaliation for doing so.

In 2020 alone, we received 1,340 allegations of wrongdoing, most of which concerned waste of state funds, misuse of state resources, improper contracting, and time and attendance abuse. Whistleblower complaints through our office have triggered investigations revealing more than $581 million in wasteful spending, such as:

A state agency wasted as much as $1.5 million by failing to provide notice of its intent to collect overpayments from recipients that they received as a result of salary advances made to them.
An administrator violated state law by advertising his state experience on his private business’ website and by preparing private tax returns for clients who had business permits with his agency.
Two university employees spent an estimated 2,800 hours valued at more than $103,000 performing secondary jobs while they were also being paid to do their university work.

WE INVESTIGATE COMPLAINTS

We report substantiated allegations to the head of the employing agency, the Legislature, and the Governor. In addition, we report some of the substantiated allegations to the general public, keeping confidential the identities of the state employees involved. You can view these reports on our website.

We refer substantiated violations of law to law enforcement agencies, as appropriate.

WHAT TO REPORT

Pursuant to Government Code section 8547.2, subdivision (c), improper acts by a state agency or employee that should be reported to the State Auditor include:

Violations of state or federal law, including theft, fraud, or conflict of interest;
Noncompliance with an executive order, Rule of Court, the State Administrative Manual, or the State Contracting Manual;
Misuse or waste of state resources, including property or employee time;
Gross misconduct, incompetence, or inefficiency.

WHAT WE CAN’T INVESTIGATE

We do not have the authority to investigate either violations of internal department policies or procedures or local government agencies and employees.

WE PROTECT YOUR IDENTITY

If you report an impropriety, you are protected by the Whistleblower Protection Act, which:

Requires us to protect your identity (except from law enforcement);
Prohibits intimidation, threats, or coercion by state employees that could interfere with your right to disclose improper governmental activities.

If you believe that you have been retaliated against for disclosing an improper governmental activity, you should report this immediately to one of the following agencies:

State and Court Employees
State Personnel Board
801 Capitol Mall, MS53
Sacramento, CA 95814

California State University Employees
Vice Chancellor of Human Resources
311 Golden Shore, Room 115
Long Beach, CA 90802

Or contact the appointed campus administrator.

University of California (UC) Employees

Contact the locally designated official for the UC facility at which you are employed. Visit ucop.edu for more information.

HOW TO REPORT

You have three options to report information to us confidentially:

Call the Whistleblower Hotline at (800) 952-5665 or fax (916) 322-2603.
Note: The hotline is staffed Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. However, callers may leave a brief recorded message during other hours.
Mail information to:
Investigations
California State Auditor
P.O. Box 1019
Sacramento, CA 95812
Submit a complaint online.

HELPFUL TIPS WHEN FILING A COMPLAINT

Prepare Before Filing. Gather your thoughts before filing a complaint and prepare yourself to answer the following questions:

What is the improper activity?
Who acted improperly?
Where does that person work?
How often and for how long has the activity been occurring?
Why has it been allowed to continue?

Support What You Allege. We are unable to investigate allegations without support for your complaint. Therefore, please remember to include the following:

Description of the evidence that proves what you are saying.
Names and telephone numbers of knowledgeable witnesses.
Copies of any documents you have in your possession that support your allegation. (Please do not submit original documents, as they cannot be returned.)

Consider Providing Contact Information. You have a right to file a complaint anonymously. However, we may not be able to investigate your complaint if we cannot talk to you to confirm the information you are providing or obtain additional information. Please remember that if you identify yourself to us, we cannot reveal your identity to anyone else without your permission, except to appropriate law enforcement personnel who are conducting a criminal investigation.

Keep Your Complaint Confidential. We investigate complaints as confidentially as possible to protect both your identity as a whistleblower and our ability to gather information without interference. To protect the confidentiality of your complaint, we encourage you not to tell anyone that you filed a complaint with us.