In today’s Advisor, we learn that supervisory training and employee education are among the remedies that several employers must provide after federal investigators recently cited them for alleged whistleblower violations.
The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) reached a settlement agreement with True North Hotel Group, Inc., stipulating that the Overland Park, Kansas-based company must pay $22,225 in back wages and compensatory damages to a former employee who was terminated in Massachusetts after notifying supervisors about safety concerns and filing a whistleblower complaint with DOL’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA).
Among other things, the settlement specifies that the company will offer annual training to all managers and supervisors on whistleblower rights and employer responsibilities; provide training materials to all newly hired or promoted managers; and post a whistleblower fact sheet and OSHA poster, in both English and Spanish, in conspicuous locations at all of its worksites.
“Employers must understand that every employee has the right to raise workplace safety and health concerns without fear of retaliation or termination,” said Marthe Kent, OSHA’s New England regional administrator. “When employees are fearful or reluctant to raise these issues with their employers, hazardous conditions could go undetected until employees are injured or sickened.”
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In recent months, several other employers have been told to provide whistleblower rights information to their employees after being cited for violations of whistleblower provisions. Those employers include Coit Services of Bedford Heights, Ohio, which was ordered to reinstate and pay a technician $161,228 in back wages, compensatory damages, and interest plus attorneys’ fees. OSHA said the employer violated the whistleblower provisions of the Clean Air Act and the Toxic Substances Control Act when it wrongfully terminated the technician after he raised safety concerns about breaches of lead abatement protocol during a residential water mitigation project.
OSHA said Brillo Motor Transportation, Inc. (Brillo), a commercial motor carrier in Massachusetts, fired a truck driver in retaliation for his refusal to drive hours in excess of those allowed under federal regulations. Brillo was ordered to reinstate the driver and pay him $96,864 in back wages and interest, $9,669 in compensatory damages, and $25,000 in punitive damages plus attorneys’ fees.
The Northeast Illinois Regional Commuter Railroad Corp., known as Metra, was ordered to pay $38,080 in overtime, as well as interest, compensatory damages, and attorneys’ fees, to a signalman whose overtime hours were reduced and whose position was eliminated after he reported that signal routes were not tested properly, and he filed a retaliation claim.
Coit Services, Brillo, and Metra had 30 days to appeal their cases.
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Why It Matters
- If safety is truly a company value, you must create an atmosphere in which employees feel encouraged to ask questions and report on safety issues.
- One way to create this atmosphere is to include such encouragement in each safety training session you conduct.
- Whether in introductory or concluding remarks—or both—make sure you convey to employees that the company wants to know about potential safety hazards, and that management considers frontline workers to be the best source for spotting such situations.