Articles Tagged with ''retaliation''

A Pennsylvania hair salon has been ordered to pay thousands of dollars to a stylist who was fired after her husband reported workplace safety and health hazards to OSHA. After an investigation by the agency, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania has entered a consent judgment ordering Blown Away Dry Bar and Salon – based in Kennett Square – to pay a $40,000 settlement to the terminated stylist. The legal action resolves a lawsuit filed by the U.S. Department of Labor.

A new and improved Protecting America’s Workers Act (PAWA) has been introduced into the House of Representatives by Congressman Joe Courtney (D-CT). Similar versions of this bill has been introduced every year for over a decade. The bill number is H.R.1074.

The U.S. District Court for the District of Connecticut has ordered Eastern Awning Systems Inc. – a manufacturer of retractable fabric patio awnings based in Watertown, Connecticut – and its owner Stephen P. Lukos to pay a total of $160,000 to two discharged employees who filed safety and health complaints with OSHA.

The U.S. District Court for the Eastern Division of Wisconsin in Green Bay has awarded a machine operator $100,000 in back wages and compensatory damages after his employer Dura-Fibre LLC – based in Menasha, Wisconsin – terminated him for reporting injuries he and a co-worker sustained.

People will not risk their jobs to speak up about problems. They cannot afford it. That is reality. It is the very reason why the Occupational Safety and Health Act has protection for whistleblowers. It is also the reason for the Federal Whistleblower Protection Act (WPA).

OSHA is inviting public participation in an upcoming stakeholder meeting on whistleblower practices and experiences related to the railroad and trucking industries. The two industries combined accounted for the largest number of whistleblower complaints filed with OSHA in 2017.

A safety director who was fired after providing a statement and safety documentation to OSHA for an investigation will receive $48,000 in back wages and compensatory damages from his previous employer. Jasper Contractors - headquartered in Kennesaw, Georgia, but performing roofing work in Florida – has agreed to the settlement with OSHA, which resolves a lawsuit filed under the anti-retaliation provisions of the Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) Act.

E-cigarettes are at the heart of a recent whistleblower retaliation case, but this time, the devices’ effects on environmental health rather than human health was at issue. OSHA has ordered Mr. Good Vape LLC of Chino, California, to reinstate a former manager and pay him $110,000 in compensation after he was fired for claiming the company’s production of flavored liquids for e-cigarette vapor inhalers violated federal environmental law.

On July 15, 2015, a passenger aboard a flight scheduled to leave from John F. Kennedy International Airport in Boston mentioned a perceived safety violation to a flight attendant. In response, the attendant exited the plane onto the jet way to contact a supervisor for guidance on addressing the safety concern.

A commercial pilot who lost his job after complaining about violations of Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) regulations will be reinstated, under an order from OSHA. Massachusetts-based Jet Logistics Inc. (JLI) and New England Life Flight Inc. - doing business as Boston MedFlight (BMF) – must also pay the pilot $133,616.09 in back wages and interest; $100,000 in compensatory damages; and reasonable attorney fees.