AUSTIN, TX – When an employee of a luxury auto dealership in Austin learned a co-worker had tested positive for COVID-19 in December 2020, they alerted the company’s management and requested they notify other employees immediately of their exposure risk.
After the dealership failed to act, the employee emailed all company employees about the potential hazards. Less than an hour later, the car dealer terminated the employee.
On March 20, 2023, the U.S. Department of Labor obtained a consent judgment in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas, Austin Division, that requires Hi Tech Imports LLC – operating as Porsche Austin – to pay the employee $15,000 in compensatory damages. The court also forbade the dealership from discriminating against their employees when they exercise their federally protected rights to raise workplace safety concerns.
The action follows a lawsuit filed by the department in October 2021, and a federal whistleblower investigation by the department’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration. The agency found the dealership illegally retaliated against the employee in December 2020, violating whistleblower protections of the Occupational Safety and Health Act.
“Retaliating against employees who report workplace safety and health concerns is illegal,” said OSHA Regional Administrator Eric S. Harbin in Dallas. “In this case, an employee raised legitimate concerns about a potential coronavirus hazard at the car dealership where they...
By Neil J Kanatt and Alexander Marrow Aug 4 (Reuters) – Kimberly-Clark cut annual sales and profit forecasts on Tuesday and said false claims about its diaper quality in China will continue to be ...