By Adam R. Young, A. Scott Hecker, Daniel R. Birnbaum, James L. Curtis, and Craig B. Simonsen
Seyfarth Synopsis: Resources and laws supporting best practices to ensure commercial motor vehicle (“CMV”) driver safety include CDC-NIOSH guidance, the Surface Transportation Assistance Act (“STAA”), and OSHA’s Fatigue Rule. 49 CFR § 392.3 – Ill or fatigued operator
Continue Reading Best Practices to Ensure Commercial Motor Vehicle Driver Safety, Fatigue Rule ComplianceBy Benjamin D. Briggs, Adam R. Young, and Craig B. Simonsen
Seyfarth Synopsis: The Tenth Circuit held that a trucking company unlawfully retaliated against a truck driver after he abandoned a trailer on a public highway, finding that his actions constituted a protected refusal to operate a vehicle in unsafe conditions.
The Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals
Continue Reading Tenth Circuit Orders Truck Driver Who Abandoned Trailer on Interstate Highway to be Reinstated with Backpay
By James L. Curtis and Craig B. Simonsen
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration has just released its whistleblower statistics, showing another jump in the number of whistleblower cases filed with OSHA in FY 2014, to over three thousand.
This is the first time that the total number of claims filed has topped 3,000, and is the result of a
Continue Reading Not Surprisingly, 2014 Sees Another Increase in Whistleblower Cases
By Brent I. Clark, Ada W. Dolph, and Craig B. Simonsen
In remarks before its Whistleblower Protection Advisory Committee, OSHA Administrator Dr. David Michaels said that he will lessen the whistleblower’s burden of proof in investigations.
Dr. Michaels spoke at the September 3, 2014 Whistleblower Protection Advisory Committee meeting. In his introduction, he noted that from 2009
Continue Reading OSHA Head Says OSHA Will Lower Whistleblower’s Burden of Proof in Investigations
By James Curtis and Meagan Newman
Data shows that the gap between the number of whistleblower claims filed–under all 21 provisions that provide OSHA with jurisdiction, including OSHA 11(c), STAA, AIR21 and SOX–and the number that are completed is growing. The result is an ever-increasing number of unresolved whistleblower claims and a commensurate number of whistleblowers that
Continue Reading Gap Widens Between Whistleblower Cases Received and Completed