Tag Archives: OSHA
Whistleblower Awarded $40,000 After Retaliation for Reporting OSHA Violations
A whistleblower recently received $40,000 from a jury in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. The award compensated him for lost wages and pain and suffering after his wrongful termination from Fairmount Foundry, Inc. According to the whistleblower, he was illegally fired from the foundry after he reported some health and […]
OSHA: Wells Fargo Treated Terminated Manager Unfairly After He Exposed Potential Fraud
Banking giant Wells Fargo must reinstate a former manager who was fired after he reported possible fraud happening within the organization. The order comes from the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), which is forcing the bank to pay the employee back wages, attorneys’ fees and other monetary damages in amounts […]
Federal Judge Says No to Preliminary Injunction on OSHA Anti-Retaliation Regulations
On November 28, a federal judge in Texas ruled against an injunction that would have prevented a new Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) anti-retaliation regulation from going into effect. This new regulation requires all employers to provide proper notice to their employees of their right to report any injuries suffered in the scope of […]
OSHA Pilot Program to Allow for Expedited Case Processing
The Western Region of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has launched its Expedited Case Processing Pilot, which allows whistleblowers to request OSHA to expedite its findings during an investigation. For a complainant’s case to be moved to the Office of Administrative Law Judges in an expedited manner, it must meet all of the […]
OSHA Eases Up on Pleading Standards for Whistleblower Claims
Large employers could expect to see an even greater increase in whistleblower complaints after new guidance from the Occupational Health and Safety Administration relaxes some of the standards for investigators who are given the task of determining if violations of whistleblower law exist. The revisions to OSHA’s Whistleblower Investigations Manual went into effect on January […]
OSHA Sides with Truck Driver in Whistleblower Case in New York
A truck driver has received a $45,000 award after the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) determined the company that employed him violated a variety of whistleblower laws. The man began driving for Brindi Trailer Sales and Services of Meridale in 2011. Not long after he started working for the company, […]
New OSHA Directive to Help Resolve Whistleblower Complaints Early
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) issued a number of new procedures and policies August 19, outlining how a new process will be established to resolve whistleblower disputes more efficiently. The goal is to get whistleblower complaints resolved early on and to spend less time in court with each action. This process is being […]
5th Circuit Court Revives a SOX Whistleblower Action
The Fifth Circuit Court recently revived Wallace v. Tesoro Corp, a Sarbanes-Oxley whistleblower complaint that had previously been dismissed by the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas. The Fifth Circuit found the plaintiff’s alleged belief that the company was in violation of certain Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) rules was not unreasonable. […]
OSHA Clarifies Standards for Whistleblower Investigations
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has issued a new memo to clarify the investigative standards it has in place for its whistleblower investigations. There are more than 20 whistleblower protection laws subject to OSHA enforcement. The agency investigates whistleblower retaliation complaints that come through and puts forth merit findings whenever there is any […]
OSHA Requests $39 Million in New Funding for 2016 Fiscal Year
The 2016 Fiscal Year budget proposals set forth by the U.S. Department of Labor indicate that the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has requested an additional $49 million for its 2016 budget. That money would go toward hiring 90 new full-time employees, 60 of whom would specifically be dedicated to federal enforcement tasks. Of […]
