In February of 2016, the United States Department of Labor and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) sued three employers for unfair termination of employees who spoke up against unfair labor practices.
The Department of Labor filed one of its suits against Regional Environmental Demolition, a building company based in upstate New York, for retaliating against an employee who reported unsafe work conditions. That employee told superiors about weakened floor conditions and was later fired after filing an anonymous complaint with OSHA.
In two U.S. Steel Corp. sites in Pennsylvania, workers were supposedly suspended unfairly for reporting workplace injuries. In both cases, the workers reported injuries and were suspended for five days without pay, although in one case the suspension was reduced to two days.
“U.S. Steel’s policy discourages employees from reporting injuries for fear of retaliation,” said Richard Mendelson, OSHA regional administrator in Philadelphia. “Because workers don’t always recognize injuries at the time they occur, the policy provides an incentive for employees to not report injuries once they realize they should, since they are concerned that the timing of their report would violate the company’s policy and result in some kind of reprimand.”
OSHA filed a suit and issued an order against a company in Anchorage, Alaska for suspending, firing and ostracizing an employee who had reported health and safety concerns in 2012. The employee in question, a pilot with several decades of experience, reported several safety concerns and was faced with serious vocational penalties, all of which are in violation of the Occupational Safety and Health Act. In issuing their order against the company, OSHA is requiring that they compensate the employee for back wages and pain and emotional distress as well as that they expunge the employee’s record, not retaliate any further and post updated notices about federal whistleblower protections in both their facilities.
