Whistleblower

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By James L. Curtis, Meagan Newman, and Craig B. Simonsen

shutterstock_144257470The Occupational Safety and Health Administration has published a draft document intended to “help employers” to develop a program to protect employees from retaliation when issues or concerns about workplace conditions or activities that could harm workers or members of the public are raised.

The draft, Protecting Whistleblowers: Recommended …
Continue Reading OSHA Recommended Practices for Employers for Preventing and Addressing Retaliation

By James L. Curtis and Craig B. Simonsen

shutterstock_144257470In a recent Federal District Court OSHA 11(c) retaliation case, Perez v. Sandpoint Gas N Go, 14-cv-357 (9-29-2015), Chief Judge B. Lynn Winmill provides a strong reminder that the Courts will protect from retaliation employees who raise workplace safety issues.

In this case, the whistleblower had contacted OSHA in 2012 to…
Continue Reading Employer Ordered to Pay Whistleblower $100,000 Punitive Damages

By James L. Curtis and Meagan Newman

OSHA released an updated version of its Whistleblower Investigations Manual (CPL 02-03-005) on May 21, 2015–the first update since September 2011.  The manual now reflects procedures for investigating MAP-21 whistleblower claims (protecting workers who report defects in automobiles), as well as substantive changes to Chapter 6 which covers settlement agreements and remedies.

One…
Continue Reading OSHA Publishes New Whistleblower Investigations Manual

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 Ada W. Dolph and Craig B. Simonsen

A railroad’s decision to terminate an apprentice electrician whose OSHA injury report revealed he had not been truthful in his employment record about other prior workplace injuries was unlawful retaliation under the whistleblower provision of the Federal Railroad Safety Act, 49 U.S.C. § 20109 (FRSA), OSHA has ordered.  The railroad was …
Continue Reading Railroad Ordered to Pay $225,000 in Whistleblower Action where Employee Allegedly Lied About Prior Injuries

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 Ada W. Dolph and Craig B. Simonsen

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) recently flexed its muscle, announcing a nearly $1 million damages award and reinstatement for a foreman and two truck drivers against an asphalt paving company accused of terminating them in retaliation for filing separate OSHA complaints asserting that they had been directed to violate the…
Continue Reading OSHA Orders Asphalt Paving Company to Pay Nearly $1 Million and Reinstate Foreman and Two Drivers In Whistleblower Complaints

By Ada W. Dolph and Craig B. Simonsen

Since 2010, OSHA has made a concerted effort to coordinate enforcement of whistleblower complaints with affiliated agencies. (See our past blog about OSHA’s coordination with the FDA here).  OSHA continues in this effort, recently announcing that it has entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the Federal Motor Carrier Safety…
Continue Reading OSHA and the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration Agree to Coordinate Responses to Whistleblower Complaints By Private Commercial Motor Vehicle Drivers

By James L. Curtis and Craig B. Simonsen

So far 2014 has proven to be a lucrative year for whistleblowers assisting federal agencies in bringing suits against “violators”.

In following up on last year’s impressive $14 million dollar whistleblower reward, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has just announced an award of $875,000 to two whistleblowers “who aided”…
Continue Reading Whistleblowers Continue to See Significant Monetary Awards in 2014

By Brent I. Clark, Kerry M. Mohan, and Craig B. Simonsen

In a remarkable announcement, OSHA Administrator Dr. David Michaels has just issued a Decision on Referring Untimely 11(c) Complainants to the National Labor Relations Board (Decision), OM-14-60 (May 21, 2014).

This announcement comes just weeks after Dr. Michaels testified at a hearing before the Senate Subcommittee on…
Continue Reading OSHA Decision to Refer “Untimely 11(c) Complaints” to the NLRB