The onset of the COVID-19 pandemic was sudden and devastating, and even as the threat levels subside, the fallout endures. To be sure, the healthcare industry has long been on the forefront of battling the threat to public health posed by COVID-19. While there has been a broad and varied governmental response to the multitude of concerns arising out of COVID-19, a significant component of that has been the enactment and enforcement of laws and rules governing workplace safety—and nowhere more so than in healthcare facilities.

Of course, the healthcare environment has naturally been subjected to the most stringent requirements, including mandatory vaccines and personal protective equipment (PPE). The safety-driven concerns in turn served as a catalyst for legislative and other governmental action to institute protections from retaliation to those who expose unsafe practices, i.e., “whistleblowers.”

At the federal level, OSHA has not only stepped-up enforcement of workplace safety concerns, but it has taken a prominent role in protecting workers against retaliation. In fact, OSHA recently released guidelines on how to file a Section 11(c) complaint for retaliation against employees who report COVID cases or health concerns to their employers. There has been a substantial increase in the number of whistleblower complaints to OSHA arising out of alleged pandemic safety-related violations. Not to be left out, the U.S. Attorney has set up its own hotline specifically for...

Read Full Story: https://www.natlawreview.com/article/spread-covid-whistleblower-legislative-p...