The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) has announced a settlement with Modern Oil Company, the operator of the Kwick Stop convenience store in Shawnee, Oklahoma. The lawsuit alleged that after OSHA investigated a workplace safety complaint a store in Shawnee, Oklahoma, management grilled the three employees of that store until it determined who called OSHA.
Section 11(c)
Robert C. Byrd Mine Safety Protection Act fails House motion
The Robert C. Byrd Mine Safety Protection Act included provisions to give workers modern whistleblower protections in mines, and in all workplaces governed by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). It would fix the terribly weak protections of Section 11(c) of the OSH Act. On Wednesday, Rep. George Miller (D-CA) brought the measure to…
Food safety bill will create new whistleblower protection; our patchwork has one less hole
Yesterday the U.S. Senate passed the FDA Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA), S. 510. It passed with strong bipartisan support. The final vote was 73 to 25. My friend Jason Zuckerman has written a detailed analysis of FSMA’s new whistleblower protection. Those who need the details about the scope and legal requirements for FSMA…
Charleston Gazette calls for modernizing whistleblower protections
In an editorial yesterday, the Charleston Gazette of West Virginia called on Congress to pass a law to modernize the legal protections for workplace health and safety whistleblowers. "Whistleblowers protect the health and safety of working Americans by exposing unsafe conditions," the editorial begins. It then recounts how the Government Accountability Office (GAO) report found…
OSHA sues Kwick Stop in Shawnee, Oklahoma
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has announced that it filed a lawsuit in Oklahoma City against Modern Oil Company, the operator of 30 Kwick Stop convenience stores. The lawsuit alleges that after OSHA investigated a workplace safety complaint at one of its stores in Shawnee, Oklahoma, management grilled the three employees of that…