Port Authority Fined by OSHA for Violating Federal Whistleblower Law
By Jon Whiten • Mar 12th, 2010 • Category: Blog, News
The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey violated the rights of an employee when it imposed discipline on her for exercising her rights under the Federal Railroad Safety Act (FRSA), an investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) finds.
The employee in question fell and was injured after a chair she sat on broke. But when she reported the injurty, the Port Authority allegedly said she’d caused the accident herself. She then filed a whistleblower complaint with OSHA, alleging that the Port Authority had disciplined her for reporting her injury — a complaint that OSHA’s investigation found to have merit.
Under FRSA, employees of a railroad carrier (and its contractors and subcontractors) are protected against retaliation for reporting on-the-job injuries as well as reporting certain safety and security violations and cooperating with investigations by OSHA and other agencies.
“Railroad employees have the legal right to report work-related injuries,” says Robert Kulick, OSHA’s regional administrator in New York. “Railroads that retaliate against employees for exercising their rights will be held accountable.”
OSHA has ordered the Port Authority to pay $1,000 in punitive damages and take corrective actions, including compensating the worker for legal fees. The Port Authority and the complainant have 30 days from receipt of the findings to file an appeal with the Labor Department’s Office of Administrative Law Judges.
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Jon Whiten is the founding editor of the Jersey City Independent; he now works for a public-policy nonprofit in Trenton.
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