In a post titled Wherever I look, whistleblower issues abound, The Pump Handle, a blog focused on public health and environmental issues, discusses suggestions made by whistleblower advocates to improve OSHA’s Whistleblower Protection Program. The suggestions were made at an “OSHA Listens” public meeting. The blog reports that Jason Zuckerman offered a frank, attention-grabbing assessment of OSHA’s whistleblower protection program under Secretary Chao:
“The prevailing culture or modus operandi at OSHA has been to conduct cursory investigations in which complainants are not kept in the loop and to issue findings adopting the employer’s justification for the retaliatory action…”
In other words, OSHA often merely rubber stamps an employer’s pretextual explanation for a retaliatory adverse action, thereby giving OSHA’s imprimatur to unlawful retaliation. Such investigations do not deter retaliation and indeed have the opposite effect–emboldening employers to retaliate at will knowing that they will not be held accountable.”
Whistleblower Protection Lawyers
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