Instead of promoting the experienced inspector who detected why the city’s drinking water was sickening people and pets, the city of Delray Beach harassed her and fired her, an OSHA investigation found.
Last week, 15 months after marching Christine Ferrigan out of her office in front of co-workers, Delray Beach ratified a settlement to a whistleblower lawsuit that will pay Ferrigan $818,500.
That’s on top of the $1 million in civil money penalties Delray paid the Florida Department of Health-Palm Beach County, as per a 2021 consent order, for failing to monitor and report issues that Ferrigan uncovered.
“The City of Delray Beach’s actions toward this worker and its response to concerns about the municipal drinking water supply are deeply troubling,” said Lily Colon, assistant regional administrator for the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration.
“Our investigation showed that the city harassed and ultimately fired an employee sworn to protect the public for doing their job,” she said. “No worker should fear being punished by their employer for reporting legitimate safety and health concerns, and OSHA will work vigorously to defend courageous people like this inspector.”
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