USPS Wrongfully Terminates Employee

May 17, 2023

Federal court rules for emplyee

  • A federal court in Tacoma, Washington, found that the U.S. Postal Service wrongfully retaliated against an employee for reporting an injury and applying for workers’ comp benefits.
  • The court’s action follows an investigation by OSHA that found the USPS terminated the worker in retaliation for filing an injury report.
  • The agency also determined the USPS stopped conducting performance evaluations and then fired the worker before the end of their new hire probation.
  • The termination violated the federal Occupational Safety and Health Act, which protects an employee’s right to report injury without fear of reprisal.
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Challenge of classifying contract workers

  • Contractors lack many of the labor protections of workers directly employed by a company.
  • In 2018, 20% of workers were contract workers, 65% of part-time workers, and over half of contract workers went without benefits, according to NPR.
  • The worker-advocacy nonprofit National Employment Law Project has found 10% to 30% of employers misclassify their employees as gig workers, denying millions of workers compensation for workplace injuries, unemployment insurance, and better pay.
  • Businesses have the incentive to misclassify workers as contractors to undermine their competitors, according to the DOJ Antitrust Division.
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Fitness firm faces fines

  • Oregon OSHA fined four of the Courthouse Club Fitness locations — Battle Creek, Lancaster, West Salem and Keizer — $22,500 each.
  • Each penalty included $17,500 for willfully violating the order, and $5,000 for a serious violation of a Red Warning Notice, which requires an employer to discontinue an unsafe activity.
  • The company was fined an additional $126,749 in January 2021 for “willfully continuing to potentially expose employees to the infectious coronavirus,” at the Battle Creek location, according to OSHA officials.
  • Capitol Racquet Sports has appealed all the fines, and the appeals have been transferred to the Worker’s Compensation Board.
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Michigan firm awarded for safety

  • DeWys Manufacturing Inc., an Ottawa County, Michigan-based manufacturer, is the newest company recognized by MIOSHA for implementing and maintaining outstanding workplace safety and health standards.
  • A sheet metal manufacturing company with 239 employees, DeWys Manufacturing Inc., has an excellent safety and health management system in place.
  • The firm joins only seven other companies awarded the Michigan Safety and Health Achievement Recognition Program certification from MIOSHA.
  • MSHARP recognizes workplaces that have achieved excellence in their safety and health practices, placing these companies among the elite few that go above and beyond MIOSHA standards.
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