In 2012, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) sued the United States Postal Service (USPS) for retaliating against a Safety Specialist at the Seattle, Washington Processing & Distribution Center (P&DC). According to the DOL :
OSHA’s investigation determined that the Postal Service followed a pattern of adverse actions against the safety specialist, who was assigned to the Seattle Process and Distribution Center at 10700 27th Ave. S., after learning that he had assisted another (casual) employee in exercising her rights under the OSH Act and provided her with OSHA’s contact information. That employee later filed a formal complaint with OSHA alleging unhealthful conditions at the facility. The specialist subsequently suffered a series of reprimands, was restricted from contact with staff at the facility and was transferred to an office without the necessary equipment to perform his job. The investigation also substantiated claims that the Postal Service reassigned many of the specialist’s duties to an individual with a lower pay grade and did not select him for a promotion because of his interactions with OSHA despite acknowledging him as qualified for the position.
According to the Associated Press:
SEATTLE – He started working for the U.S. Postal Service as a mail carrier in 1995. Managers praised his work consistently and regularly promoted him, eventually to management positions. His career led him to become a Postal Service safety specialist, where he excelled as he provided safety advice at more than 300 small postal facilities and area offices throughout Washington. In 2008, everything changed after the safety specialist dared to help a co-worker stand up for her rights.
Seven years ago, he advised a co-worker to call the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration about her workplace health concerns. Soon after, the safety specialist found himself working in an increasingly hostile work environment. In a matter of months, the worker was transferred to another office, forced to work in an unheated storage room, demoted, restricted on his movements, publicly humiliated and subjected to four openly antagonistic interviews as part of workplace investigations. He was also issued a disciplinary letter and refused a promotion. In April 2008, the specialist filed his first whistleblower complaint with OSHA in Seattle. Several more complaints would follow as hostilities increased.
An OSHA investigation later confirmed the employee’s complaints and acted on his behalf. On Feb. 13, U.S. District Judge Ricardo Martinez in Seattle agreed with OSHA’s findings. After a five-day bench trial, the court found that the employee undisputedly engaged in protected activities under the OSH Act by assisting his co-worker on a health and safety concern and by filing his own whistleblower complaints alleging retaliation and harassment.
“This employee suffered grave public humiliation by his Postal Service supervisors and was the target of ridicule simply for doing his job and for standing up for the rights of a co-worker,” said Ken Atha, OSHA regional administrator in Seattle.
The court found that the employee is entitled to $229,228 in damages. The ruling also requires the Postal Service to promote him to the same pay rate he would have now, had he not been denied a promotion. Judge Martinez also enjoined the Seattle-area Postal Service from discriminating against employees who complain to or cooperate with OSHA, and from failing to take action against managers who interfere with employees exercising their rights under the OSH Act.
“This 20-year veteran Postal Service employee is a true hero, and we hope that this court decision will be of some comfort to him for the retribution he suffered and a lesson to those employers, large or small, believing that they can act with impunity and without consequences,” said Janet Herold, the department’s regional solicitor in San Francisco.
The OSH Act prohibits managers from retaliating against an employee who gives another employee OSHA’s telephone number. Workers have a right to contact OSHA and to assist others to connect with OSHA.
OSHA enforces the whistleblower provisions of more than 21 statutes protecting employees who report violations of various commercial motor carrier, airline, nuclear, pipeline, environmental, public transportation agency, consumer product, motor vehicle safety, railroad, maritime, health care reform, food safety, securities and financial reform laws.
Employees who believe that they have been retaliated against for engaging in protected conduct may file a complaint with the secretary of labor to request an investigation by OSHA’s Whistleblower Protection Program. Detailed information on employee whistleblower rights is available at http://www.whistleblowers.gov.
You mean they aren’t supposed to treat employees like that? If not we all deserve
a settlemnt
Postal management will continue to treat the “slaves like dirt” as long as the Postal rate payers pay for managements bad treatment of employees! Make the management employee involved pay out of their own pocket! As it stands now, when management screws up, they are promoted, and the Postal Service pays out from funds received from Postal customers. Why would any one in management treat an employee as a human, when they can treat an employee badly, then be promoted?
Yup the untrained and unproffesional , uneducated upper managements, from the POOMS, MOPS, OPS support, all picked by whom they know, not what you know or how educated one is
Now there’s a whistle to be reckoned with ! Congratulations ! !
We are going through this very same problem! Several employee have been physically man handled by our Post Master and NOTHINGS been done. They’ve detailed her for a year somewhere else but we all are thinking she’s coming back. (PM is 6’6″ and well over 350 lbs.) They just fired a supervisor for “correcting” clock rings….the only supervisor who singed a complaint about the PM!
I’m not letting this go until she (PM) is removed from the service!
“a lesson to those employers, large or small, believing that they can act with impunity and without consequences,”
The judge actually thinks the manager that cost the PO all this money was taught a lesson???? He thinks the manager gives a horse apple that it cost the PO money?? If you work here you know that there is NO accountability for management in this case. That manager is harassing someone else right now. The judge made the PO pay. But the manager got away with it. It cost him absolutely nothing.
Yuplt’sSlower, we know why manglement continues to do dangerous things that could/does injure employees, its because awards like this do not come out of their own pockets. Nor do they get fired themselves for that conduct.
I worked in Tacoma and I have an open OWCP case with USPS but I was just disability retired . I would like to talk to the attorney involved!
I worked in Tacoma and was recently disability retired from USPS and would like to talk to the lawyer involved!!!
Now you see why employees “will” not report their abusive Mngt. in their offices in fear of retaliation!! At least this person had OSHA on their side & a very excellent Judge.
You think this will impact my bonus? ROFLMAO !!!!
I would certainly hope your work ethics are fare superior than you attitude!!
Wow. This is exactly the type of information that should be public knowledge, and not just on a trade related web site. The USPS management is indeed vindictive, discriminatory, corrupted and willing to do most anything to cover their pathetic asses. The whole whistleblower issue that has been more prominent in the past couple of years is indicative of just how far employers and organizations/business are willing to go to protect themselves.
A similar lawsuit is pending in St. Louis where another postal worker was concerned about possible carbon monoxide leaks in his station. After repeated failed attempts to convince management about the problem he contacted OSHA and got branded as a troublemaker and a possible terrorist for his trouble. He was then fired for “unsafe” practices. What was “unsafe” was ratting out a belligerent management team who not only didn’t give a shit about the welfare of their employees, preferred to obfuscate and punish this poor man for just trying to keep people from getting sick or even dying. Carbon monoxide is no gas to fool around with, as anybody with more brains than a blade of grass can tell you.
The union should have gotten seriously involved, took it to national levels, made it national news and exposed the jerks in the St. Louis district as the criminally inept and mean spirited ghouls they are.
The more exposure of this kind of behavior, the better it will be for craft in the long run as the public view will be so negative toward postal management, and hopefully Congress as well that a full blown investigation by a powerful independent force will be ordered, and all charges filed as necessary. Whistleblowers, unite. You are brave to take on the big bullies, and you have the admiration of a lot of good people out there tired of being screwed by the world of management.
USPS continually complains it needs more money, yet it repeatedly does or fails to do things that result in it having to pay $ to employees. Damages should be assessed against the individuals in management that make the malicious decisions.
My plant just ‘failed’ VPP recertification due to lack of employee participation. Here’s your sign.