Champlain Valley Equipment liable for $100,000 in whistleblower suit
An employee fired for reporting the pumping of wastewater by their employer has been awarded back pay with interest, plus $100,000 in damages, by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration.
OSHA also ordered that the employee of Champlain Valley Equipment, an agricultural equipment dealer in Vermont, should be reinstated.
According to OSHA, the employee observed the company pumping wastewater from the facility’s service bays onto the ground bordering the Winooski River in Berlin. The employee reported their concerns about the potential harm to the river, first to supervisors and then to the state’s Department of Environmental Conservation.
Read also: Sustainability in equipment operations
Shortly after, Champlain fired the employee, and the worker filed a whistleblower complaint with OSHA.
After its investigation, OSHA determined that Champlain’s actions violated the whistleblower provisions of the Safe Drinking Water Act and the Federal Water Pollution Control Act.
OSHA ordered the company to pay the employee $45,015.72 in back wages, interest on the back wages, $50,000 in compensatory damages, $50,000 in punitive damages and the worker’s reasonable attorneys’ fees.
“The employee had a right to raise valid concerns about potential environmental harm to the Winooski River, an important water source,” said Galen Blanton, regional administrator in Boston, in a statement. “Employers who retaliate illegally against employees who engage in federally protected activities will be held accountable.”
OSHA also ordered the employer to do the following:
- Remove any reference to how the employee exercised their rights under the Safe Drinking Water Act and the Federal Water Pollution Control Act from their employment records.
- Not retaliate or discriminate against the employee in any manner for instituting or causing to be instituted any proceeding under or related to the SDWA and the FWPCA.
- Immediately post, in a conspicuous place, a notice to employees, signed by a responsible company official, informing them of their rights under the two environmental laws.
“Employees have the legally protected right to raise safety, health, and environmental concerns without fear of retaliation, interference, termination or other prohibited actions by their employer,” said Kristen Rubino, assistant regional administrator for whistleblower protection programs, in a statement. “OSHA will rigorously investigate such complaints and secure appropriate remedies when necessary.”
Champlain Valley Equipment has provided and serviced farm, lawn and garden, and light construction equipment throughout Vermont with locations in Berlin, Derby, Essex, Middlebury, and St. Albans.
Source: OSHA
