HOUSTON – A federal whistleblower investigation led OSHA to order a Houston mobile crane rental company to pay a former employee nearly $24,000 in back wages, interest, and damages after firing the worker in June 2020 for refusing to drive in excess of federal limits and reported fatigue.
OSHA determined Crane Masters Inc. violated the Surface Transportation Assistance Act when it retaliated against the employee on June 5, 2020, for refusing to exceed safe driving limits set by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration.
The employee worked 19 hours the day prior and could not get the required time off before returning to work– making it unsafe to operate a vehicle.
The investigation led OSHA to order the company to pay the driver nearly $14,000 in back wages, interest and compensatory damages, and $10,000 in punitive damages.
Crane Masters provides hydraulic truck cranes and rigging services to several industries, including construction, oil and gas, freight transportation, and chemical manufacturing. It has operated for 20 years and serves the greater Houston area.
OSHA’s Whistleblower Protection Program enforces the whistleblower provisions of more than 20 whistleblower statutes protecting employees from retaliation for reporting violations in the workplace.
A British science journalist-turned-attorney who initiated a lawsuit that saw a Harvard University-affiliated cancer centre pay $15 million (11 million) to settle claims of alleged data misreprese...