By Lea Yu on August 3, 2010
A union representing 530 mechanics and other workers at Delta Air Lines Inc.’s subsidiary Comair has withdrawn from a federal program to encourage reporting of safety problems, saying the company retaliated against employees who took part.
“We have discussed the problems with this dysfunctional program with both Comair and the [Federal Aviation Administration] for months,” Tom Higginbotham, ... Read more »
Posted in Airline Safety, News & Notes, Whistleblowers, Workplace Safety
By Elise Craig on July 23, 2010
A small provision in the massive new financial reform law promises a big payout to insiders who give the government original information that reveals illegal schemes in the private sector, including insider trading, false earnings reports and classic Ponzi schemes, the Los Angeles Times reports.
Under the law, whistleblowers will receive 10 percent to 30 percent ... Read more »
Posted in News & Notes, Whistleblowers
By Lea Yu on July 1, 2010
BP has been trying to shut down an internal safety program that it formed under congressional pressure four years ago, a CNN investigation has found.
The oil company created the Ombudsman Program in the wake of a 2005 explosion at a BP refinery in Texas, which took 15 workers’ lives, and a massive oil spill in ... Read more »
Posted in Environmental Safety and Health, News & Notes, Whistleblowers, Workplace Safety
By Myron Levin on June 23, 2010
It’s illegal to demote or fire an employee for blowing the whistle on hazards at work. However, when government investigators have substantiated complaints of illegal retaliation against whistleblowers, often the cases have fallen into a black hole because labor department lawyers wouldn’t take them to court, undermining protections in the law. Critics cited other serious problems with Occupational Safety Health Administration’s whistleblower program, including inadequate staffing and bulging caseloads.
Posted in FairWarning Investigates, Whistleblowers, Workplace Safety
By Myron Levin on June 22, 2010
It’s illegal to demote or fire an employee for reporting hazardous conditions at work. But in California, safeguards for whistleblowers are little more than words on paper, advocates for workers say.
When workers file complaints about retaliation, the investigations drag on longer in California than in any other state, according to U.S. government data. In California, ... Read more »
Posted in Whistleblowers, Workplace Safety
By Myron Levin on June 22, 2010
Related:
Protection Lags for Workers Who Report Hazards on the Job
Whistleblowers Left Hanging in Golden State
Truck driver John Simon blew the whistle on safety violations, and it cost him his job.
Over the next three years, he often thought about how much easier life would be if, rather than decide to stand and fight, he’d ... Read more »
Posted in Whistleblowers, Workplace Safety
