The Labor Department’s (DOL) plan to shift some whistleblower investigators out of OSHA and into a newly created Office of Civil Rights (OCR) is raising questions about the proposal’s practical effects on investigations that may involve more than one statute, as well as how DOL will be able to handle a growing number of complaints.
OSHA’s redesign of a poster that employers must post informing employees of the protections and obligations provided for in the OSH Act fails to provide information on some of employees’ most important rights and makes no mention of key employer responsibilities, Obama-era OSHA chief Jordan Barab says.
A federal district court judge has granted OSHA’s request to dismiss North Dakota’s suit challenging an agency investigation into alleged whistleblower retaliation by the state’s environment department, finding that all of the state’s claims that the investigation violated North Dakota’s sovereign immunity fail.
A pair of recent court rulings has created procedural and constitutional uncertainty over the way OSHA adjudicates the majority of its whistleblower complaint docket, leading to possible inconsistent outcomes across cases in the short term and the potential for judicial and legislative changes to the process in the long term, legal experts say.
The Trump administration’s plan to slash funding for OSHA and other federal agencies tasked with worker protection is drawing concerns from Democratic lawmakers, who have questioned how less money can lead to better outcomes, and worker advocates who argue the cuts are threats to all workers.
OSHA attorneys are reiterating their calls for a federal court to dismiss North Dakota’s suit challenging an agency investigation into alleged whistleblower retaliation by the state’s environment department, arguing that a federal court lacks jurisdiction and the state has no sovereign immunity from its enforcement action.
North Dakota is urging a federal court to reject OSHA’s efforts to dismiss litigation challenging an agency investigation into alleged whistleblower retaliation by the state’s environment department, arguing OSHA’s position “ignores the finer points” of the state’s sovereign immunity claims.
OSHA is asking a federal district court to dismiss North Dakota’s lawsuit challenging an OSHA investigation into alleged whistleblower retaliation by the state’s Department of Environmental Quality (NDDEQ), arguing that sovereign immunity does not shield the state from federal enforcement actions.
Legal experts are urging companies to ensure their nondisclosure agreements (NDAs) comply with a key federal whistleblower protection law, warning that failure to do so could result in additional charges or penalties in federal antitrust cases.
North Dakota is suing the Department of Labor, claiming the federal agency breached the state’s sovereign immunity and violated the state’s constitutional rights by investigating a whistleblower complaint filed by a former state environment department employee.