Employee wins job back, six figure payout
Hi Tech Imports, a Porsche dealership in Texas, has settled a federal lawsuit and reinstated an employee who was unjustly fired after warning co-workers of a positive Covid-19 infection at the dealer. The settlement was reached on March 20th, 2023, with Michael Pacho, who will have his job reinstated and receive more than $100,000 in back pay and $15,000 in compensatory damages.
The incident occurred in December 2020, when Pacho discovered that an employee at the dealership had tested positive for Covid-19 after having close contact with several other employees. Despite alerting management to the infection, they failed to take action.
As a result, Pacho sent an email to employees informing them of the situation. However, management allegedly terminated Pacho's employment less than an hour later, falsely claiming he had identified the employee with Covid-19 and stating that "his only job was to fix cars."
The U.S. Department of Labor filed a federal lawsuit against Hi Tech Imports in October 2021 after an Occupational Safety and Health Administration investigation revealed that the dealership had violated the OSHA Act of 1970, which prevents employees from being punished for raising a health or safety concern with their employers.
“Retaliating against employees who report workplace safety and health concerns is illegal,” said OSHA Regional Administrator Eric S. Harbin. “In this case, an employee raised legitimate concerns about a...
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