Dive Brief:
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The U.S. Department of Labor is suing Georgia-based Jasper Roofing Contractors Inc. and its owner and chief executive officer Brian Wedding for terminating the company's safety manager after he complied with an Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) inspection.
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The lawsuit, filed late last month in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida, claims that Jasper and Wedding discriminated against the safety manager by conducting retaliatory acts that led to his termination. The safety manager had provided documentation to OSHA regarding the company's safety compliance and had attempted to improve safety culture at the company, according to the suit.
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The suit is seeking to retrieve back wages, interest, compensatory and punitive damages as well as injunctive relief.
Dive Insight:
The lawsuit launched by the Department of Labor follows an investigation by OSHA's Whistleblower Protection Program. Under the program, workers who report violations are offered protection, with employers prohibited from retaliating against employees who raise various protected concerns or provide protected information to the employer or the government.
It comes as OSHA has recently stepped up its campaign on workplace safety, particularly on fall hazards, with the agency reporting in May that about 520 companies had been added to its Severe Violator Enforcement Program from 2010 to mid-April 2016, of which 60% are in the construction industry.
Last summer, OSHA also raised the maximum civil penalty payout by 78% to comply with a federally mandated rate rise.
Earlier this month, the agency issued a fine of $214,782 to Belleville, IL-based roofing contractor Barringer Brothers Roofing after finding that it exposed workers to fall hazards at a job site. This followed a $112,487 fine issued last month to NJ-based roofing company Hackensack Roofing Co. Inc. for one serious and three repeat safety violations for fall-related hazards.
Meanwhile, the National Association of Home Builders — along with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the Oklahoma State Homebuilders Association, the State Chamber of Oklahoma and three poultry associations — recently filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Labor and OHSA over the agency's final recordkeeping rule following claims that the agency does not have the authority to create what it says will be a public database for employers' injury and illness records.