Minnesota OSHA and workers compensation

Employers are responsible for providing a safe and healthful workplace for their employees. OSHA’s role is to assure the safety and health of workers in Minnesota workers by setting and enforcing standards. If an employee or worker takes it upon himself or herself to report an employer violation that employee or worker cannot be retaliated against.

The following are excerpts taken from the OSHA fact sheet for a whistleblower’s rights:

• You may file a complaint with OSHA if your employer retaliates against you by taking unfavorable personnel action because you engaged in protected activity relating to workplace safety and health, commercial motor carrier safety, pipeline safety, air carrier safety, nuclear safety, the environment, asbestos in schools, corporate fraud, SEC rules or regulations, railroad carrier safety or security, or public transportation agency safety or security
• Your employer may be found to have retaliated against you if your protected activity was a contributing or motivating factor in its decision to take unfavorable personnel action against you. Such actions may include:

1. Firing or laying off
2. Blacklisting
3. Demoting
4. Denying overtime or promotion
5. Disciplining
6. Denying benefits
7. Failing to hire or rehire
8. Intimidation
9. Reassignment affecting promotion prospects
10. Reducing pay or hours

• If you believe that your employer retaliated against you because you exercised your legal rights as an employee, contact your local OSHA office as soon as possible, because you must file your complaint within the legal time limits. OSHA conducts an in-depth interview with each complainant to determine whether to conduct an investigation. For more information, call your closest OSHA Regional Office. A complaint can be filed online.  Contact Minnesota OSHA Compliance (OSHA.Compliance@state.mn.us), Phone: 1-877-470-OSHA (1-877-470-6742).

If you have a work related injury due to an OSHA violation, Minnesota law prohibits your employer from discharging or discriminating against you because of a work related injury, illness or disease. If the injured worker can establish that the employer fires or forces to resign an injured worker in retaliation for filing a Workers’ Compensation claim, the worker is allowed under Minnesota work comp to file a civil lawsuit against the employer.

For assistance with your work related retaliation claim, please feel free to contact me.

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By Larry Sillanpa, Labor World editor (via Workday Minnesota)

In a huge victory for two former Minnesota OSHA inspectors, the Minnesota Court of Appeals Tuesday overturned a District Court ruling that had dismissed one of the cases.

Terry Swanson will now have his day in court. Doug Crosby’s case will be heard by the Appeals Court March 23.

Swanson and Crosby filed whistleblower lawsuits that say supervisors changed their signed reports, documents were removed from inspection files, and inspectors were pressured to not find violations against MNSTAR companies. Those companies have been recognized by MNOSHA for having labor/management safety committees that go beyond MNOSHA compliance standards.

The Appeals Court agreed with Swanson, who like Crosby, had “adverse employment action” taken against him that was protected under the Minnesota Whistleblower Act, Minn. Stat. § 181.932 (2006). Both men had their offices relocated far from their homes following their disclosure of MNOSHA practices that they found questionable.

Those practices saw the light of day when the two men testified before Sen. David Tomassoni’s Economic Development and Housing Finance Division Committee Feb. 27. Tomassoni, DFL-Chisholm, sent a letter on March 5 to Michael Connors, Regional Director for the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration for clarification on the testimony.

Tomassoni wrote that the “testimony was rather alarming and raised numerous questions about how OSHA is being run. Many of my Division members expressed the need for a further investigation into these allegations.” As of Tuesday Tomassoni had not heard back from Connors.

He asked Connors to answer these questions:

1.  What is the policy for changing files, specifically against the wishes of the investigators?
2. Are investigators being forced or pressured to make changes to files?
3. What is the policy for closing investigations?
4. How are differing opinions on files documented and preserved in an investigative file?
5. What is the policy for destroying or removing investigators’ field notes?
6. How many files have been removed from the federal system or destroyed?
7. Are MNSTAR companies receiving unwarranted protection from investigations and citations?
8. Are there minimum training requirements for individuals that are allowed to make changes to investigation files?

If these allegations prove correct, it will severely undermine the credibility of the MNOSHA and cause great concern for both employers and employees throughout Minnesota. I believe the testimony heard in the Division raises serious questions and merits a legislative audit.”

The letter was copied to Jim Nobles, Minnesota Legislative Auditor; Steve Sviggum, commissioner of the state Department of Labor & Industry; Richard E Fairfax, Director-DEP, US OSHA; U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar, and Congressmen Jim Oberstar and Collin Peterson, among others.

Nobles was to meet with Tomassoni Tuesday afternoon to discuss how to proceed.

Sviggum told KSTP News in a March 13 story that it’s not uncommon for OSHA reports to be changed or destroyed.

“It is true that when an investigator has findings, they may or may not go through the entire review process before a citation is given,” Sviggum told the television reporter.

Larry Sillanpa is editor of the Labor World, the official publication of the Duluth Central Labor Body. Visit the Labor World website.

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