Practical EHS Tips, News & Advice. Updated Daily.
An Austin, Texas, Porsche dealership must pay $15,000 in compensatory damages to a whistleblower who was terminated after informing coworkers of their COVID-19 exposure risk, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) announced March 27. On March 20, Labor Department (DOL) attorneys obtained a consent judgment in the U.S. District Court for the Western District […]
On December 7, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) announced a Denver-based information technology services provider must reinstate a whistleblower who raised concerns about the company’s failure to pay trust fund taxes to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). 303 Technologies Inc. violated the Taxpayer First Act, according to the agency, and must pay the […]
Do you have a robust antiretaliation program? Are you prepared for an Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) whistleblower investigation? OSHA has had whistleblower protection authority since its beginning. Section 11(c) of the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 established protections for those who file safety and health complaints or participate in inspections or […]
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) ordered ExxonMobil Corp. to reinstate two illegally terminated employees when the company suspected the two leaked information to The Wall Street Journal, the agency announced October 7. OSHA ordered the employees’ reinstatement following a whistleblower investigation under the Sarbanes-Oxley Act and ordered the company to reinstate the employees […]
On September 1, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) announced that Wells Fargo violated the whistleblower protection provisions of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act by improperly terminating a Chicago area-based senior manager in the company’s commercial banking segment. The agency ordered the San Francisco-based bank to pay the employee more than $22 million to cover back […]
A federal jury found that a Massachusetts employer and his company retaliated against an employee who reported an on-the-job injury, the Department of Labor (DOL) announced on June 22. The jury awarded $650,000 in damages—$600,000 in punitive damages and $50,000 in compensatory damages—in the case. The DOL filed a lawsuit in February 2019 against Tara […]
Back to Basics is a weekly feature that highlights important but possibly overlooked information that any EHS professional should know. This week, we examine OSHA’s whistleblower protections and how to establish an anti-retaliation program in the workplace. Reporting safety issues is an integral part of maintaining an effective, positive safety environment in the workplace. Workers […]
On April 6, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration announced a pair of stakeholder meetings on the agency’s heat illness prevention activities and whistleblower protections in healthcare (87 Federal Register (FR) 19997, 19997). Both meetings will be held virtually via Zoom. The stakeholder meeting on OSHA’s initiatives to protect workers from heat-related hazards is on […]
The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) has filed suit against an Amsterdam, New York, ophthalmologist for firing an employee who raised concerns about the practice’s failure to implement state-mandated protocols protecting employees from COVID-19 and later filed complaints with state health officials. The DOL’s complaint alleges that, between March and December 2020, an employee expressed […]
A Houston mobile crane rental company was ordered to pay a former employee nearly $24,000 in back wages, interest, and damages after firing the worker in June 2020 for refusing to drive in excess of federal limits and reported fatigue, according to a November 18 announcement from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). The […]