Under section 11(c) of the OSH Act of 1970, employees are protected from retaliation for raising workplace health and safety concerns and reporting work-related injuries and illnesses. When an employee files a whistle blower complaint, they cannot be subjected to unfavorable employment actions, which might include employment termination, demotion, denying overtime or promotion, intimidation and… Read More »
Employer Retaliation Lawsuit
Whistle blower laws generally protect employees who report (“or blow the whistle on”) health, safety, environmental, or other violations committed by their employers. Because employees are usually the first to recognize wrongdoing, protecting them from reprisals encourages employees to take action so that authorities can both detect and deter violations. Iowa Wrongful Termination Recently, an… Read More »
What Should I Do if I Am Unfairly Fired?
If you believe you have been fired from your job unfairly, you may wonder if you have any legal recourse against your Iowa employer. The answer is, it depends on the circumstances surrounding your termination. The state of Iowa is an at-will state, which means that an employer has great latitude in terminating an employee.… Read More »
Reporting a Work Injury Should Not Cost You Your Job
Workers are sometimes reluctant to report a work injury fearing they will face retaliation in the workplace. To address the problem, a final rule was published by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration last year to protect employees and encourage them to step forward when they are injured or become ill on-the-job. For starters, the… Read More »
Company Whistleblower Awarded Millions
Qui tam lawsuits are a type of civil lawsuit whistleblowers can bring under the False Claims Act, a law that rewards whistleblowers if their qui tam cases recover funds for the government. In a settlement reached with Olympus America, a leading seller of medical equipment in the U.S., a corporate whistleblower is looking at a… Read More »
Workplace Whistleblower Retaliation
I told my boss about a dangerous working condition and now my employer is retaliating against me – what rights do I have? If you feel that your employer is now harassing you, or punishing you, or if you feel your employer is retaliating against you in any other way because of your refusal to… Read More »