With the myriad of changes in regulations, court decisions, federal and state agency enforcement trends and guidance – while taking into consideration rising financial stakes associated with workplace safety and health issues – it can seem daunting to keep track of the various legal issues impacting employers.
To help you to follow and keep up with all of this, Seyfarth…
Continue Reading Breakfast Briefing — OSHA 2013: Workplace Safety & Health Compliance and Enforcement Trends
In a One Minute Memo James L. Curtis and Matthew Gagnon review the Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s new interim final rule, 78 FR 13222 (February 27, 2013), to regulate whistleblower complaints filed under the Affordable Care Act.
The interim final rule, which is explained in detail in the One Minute Memo, is effective on the publication date…
By James L. Curtis and Craig B. Simonsen
The OSHA Whistleblower Protection Program (http://www.whistleblowers.gov/) has released a summary of its Whistleblower Investigation Data: FY2005-FY2012. The summary shows that since 2005 the number of Whistleblower cases filed through 2012 has increased steadily! From 2011 to 2012 the increase of Whistleblower cases filed was about five percent, and the…
By James L. Curtis and Meagan Newman
If you have been following the blog, you may have noticed that whistleblower litigation implicating a wide range of critical compliance issues continued to proliferate in 2012. In fact we saw a range of game-changing decisions. Our Whistleblower Team has just released its Top 10 Whistleblower Decisions of 2012, where we see…
Continue Reading Seyfarth Whistleblower Team Publishes Top Ten List for 2012
By James L. Curtis and Craig B. Simonsen
As noted in a previous blog, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration and the railroads have been fighting for years over Whistleblower issues related to employee discipline for workplace injuries. In another decision from the OSHA Administrative Review Board, Vernace v. Port Authority Trans-Hudson Corp., ARB No. 12-003, ALJ No. …
Continue Reading OSHA Administrative Review Board Finds Railroad Whistleblower Violation
By James L. Curtis and Craig B. Simonsen
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration is soliciting public comments on its proposal to provide additional methods for employees to submit retaliation complaints to OSHA, including electronic submission.
OSHA’s whistleblower regulations specify the procedures that an employee must use to file a complaint alleging that their employer violated a whistleblower provision for…
Continue Reading OSHA Proposes Online Form to Make Filing Whistleblower Complaints Easier
By James L. Curtis and Craig B. Simonsen
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration and the railroads have been fighting for years over employee discipline for workplace injuries. On Tuesday, January 15, 3013, OSHA and BNSF Railway Company (BNSF) announced that they have reached an Accord, resulting in BNSF’s voluntary revision of several personnel policies that OSHA alleged violated…
Continue Reading After Long Dispute Railroad Reaches Whistleblower Accord with OSHA
Seyfarth Shaw’s partner James Curtis was quoted in the October 2012 issue of Chicago Lawyer in an article discussing the rise in whistleblower cases over the last few years. With a vibrant Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSHA) practice, and with OSHA responsible for litigating whistleblower cases, Jim handles a wide variety of whistleblower cases. However, a consistent trend in…
Continue Reading James Curtis Quoted in Chicago Lawyer: Notable Growth in Whistleblower Cases
By James L. Curtis and Meagan Newman
On October 2, 2012 OSHA announced an alternative dispute resolution pilot program for complaints filed with OSHA’s Whistleblower Protection Program. The program, which will have two methods of ADR: early resolution and mediation, will be offered in the Chicago and San Francisco Regional Offices. Participation in the program will be voluntary.
“OSHA is…
Continue Reading Hoping to Reduce the Backlog, OSHA Announces ADR Program for Whistleblower Claims
By James L. Curtis, Meagan Newman, and Craig B. Simonsen
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has adopted a new directive, CPL 02-03-004 (September 12, 2012), to provide procedures for the processing of appeals filed under Section 11(c) of the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 (Section 11(c)), and appeals filed under the Asbestos Hazard Emergency Response…
Continue Reading OSHA Adopts Procedures for Filing Whistleblower Appeals
