February 9th, 2011 | 
Author: Metro North Commuter Railroad Co., who disciplined an employee at its New Haven, Connecticut rail yard for filing a complaint with OSHA, was ordered to take corrective action and pay the worker $80,500 in punitive damages and attorney’s fees.
The railroad employee was disciplined after complaining to OSHA in November 2008 about retaliation related to reporting of a workplace injury. OSHA investigated and found the complaint had merit.
“Taking repeated disciplinary action against an employee who exercised his legal right to report an on-the-job injury and voiced a complaint about retaliatory treatment by his employer is unconscionable,” said New England Regional Administrator Marthe Kent.
“Such treatment instills a culture of silence in which hazardous conditions are masked because employees will be fearful of reporting them.”
The Occupational Safety and Health Act is designed to regulate employment conditions relating to occupational safety and health and to achieve safer and more healthful workplaces throughout the nation. OSHA enforces the whistleblower provisions of the Occupational Safety and Health Act.
Source: HR.BLR.com
Published by FELA lawyer Gordon, Elias & Seely, LLP
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