A jury in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania has found that Lloyd Industries Inc.—a manufacturing company based in Montgomeryville, Pennsylvania—and its owner William P. Lloyd unlawfully terminated two employees because of their involvement in a safety investigation conducted by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA).
An OSHA whistleblower investigation determined that Lloyd Industries Inc. and Lloyd unlawfully fired the two employees in retaliation for engaging in protected activities under Section 11(c) of the Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSH Act). The verdict follows a lawsuit filed by the Department in March 2016. The court will determine damages in the trial’s second phase.
“The U.S. Department of Labor proved the employer unlawfully fired workers for participating in a safety inspection,” said Regional Philadelphia Solicitor Oscar L. Hampton III. “The jury agreed that the timing of these terminations was no mere coincidence and supported the workers’ legal right to a safe and healthy workplace.”
OSHA enforces the whistleblower provisions of 22 statutes protecting employees who report violations of various airline, commercial motor carrier, consumer product, environmental, financial reform, food safety, motor vehicle safety, healthcare reform, nuclear, pipeline, public transportation agency, railroad, maritime, and securities laws. For more information on whistleblower protections, visit OSHA’s Whistleblower Protection Programs webpage.
Under the OSH Act, employers are responsible for providing safe and healthful workplaces for their employees. OSHA’s role is to help ensure these conditions for America’s working men and women by setting and enforcing standards, and providing training, education and assistance.
