A truck driver who had been terminated by his company in retaliation for complaining about safety issues was reinstated and awarded back wages earlier this week by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (“OSHA”) of the U.S. Department of Labor (“DOL”).  On Tuesday, August 28, 2012, OSHA announced that it had ordered M3 Transport LLC/SLT [...]

Railroad employees who report injuries to their supervisors continue to suffer retaliation at Norfolk Southern Railway Co., a freight railroad company headquartered in Virginia.  At the same time, however, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (“OSHA”) of the U.S. Department of Labor (“DOL”) continues to penalize the company for its infractions.  On Tuesday, August 28, [...]

Railroad employees who report workplace injuries will benefit from an important victory last month before the Administrative Review Board (“ARB”) of the U.S. Department of Labor (“DOL”).  On July 25, 2012, the ARB reversed the decision of an administrative law judge (“ALJ”) in the case of Santiago v. Metro-North Commuter Railroad Company, Inc., and held [...]

Yet another rail safety whistleblower at Norfolk Southern Railway Co. has been awarded damages by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (“OSHA”) of the U.S. Department of Labor (“DOL”) after the agency determined that the employee was terminated in retaliation for reporting a workplace injury.  The company is no stranger to this process – this [...]

On Wednesday, August 1, 2012, a jury in New Jersey’s Essex County Superior Court awarded a former New Jersey State Police trooper over $1 million after determining he was retaliated against in violation of the state’s whistleblower law.  Law360 reported that retired trooper Brian Royster was awarded $1.06 million in damages against his former employer, [...]

The Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”) Whistleblower Office, which we have written about frequently on this blog, announced recently that it has paid out over 90 awards since October 2011, and is currently working to speed up the process of compensating whistleblowers.  The IRS’s announcement  came after Sen. Charles Grassley, a longtime whistleblower advocate, held up [...]

The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals issued a decision on July 31, 2012, which represented a partial victory for whistleblowers employed by the federal government.  In Randall Little and Joel Arnold v. Shell Exploration & Production Company, et al., the Fifth Circuit overturned a district court decision and allowed two federal employees  to proceed with [...]

The Court of Appeals for California’s Second Appellate District issued two employee-friendly decisions on Monday, July 30, 2012, refusing to compel arbitration in separate suits against JPMorgan Chase Bank NA and Vista Del Mar Child and Family Services (“VDMCFS”).  Law360 reported that the two suits involved employees who signed mandatory arbitration clauses at the outset [...]

On July 31, 2012, Senators Patrick Leahy and Chuck Grassley introduced the Criminal Antitrust Anti-Retaliation Act (“CAARA”).  The legislation will amend the Antitrust Criminal Penalties Enforcement and Reform Act (“ACPERA”) to offer protections to employees who provide information to the U.S. Department of Justice (“DOJ”) regarding criminal antitrust investigations.  An employee who suspects retaliation because [...]