An Austin, Texas, Porsche dealership must pay $15,000 in compensatory damages to a whistleblower who was terminated after informing coworkers of their COVID-19 exposure risk, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) announced March 27.
On March 20, Labor Department (DOL) attorneys obtained a consent judgment in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas, Austin Division, compelling Hi Tech Imports LLC, operating as Porsche Austin, to pay damages to the terminated employee.
In December 2020, the employee of the luxury auto dealership learned that a coworker had tested positive for COVID-19 and alerted the company’s management, requesting that they notify other employees immediately of their exposure risk.
After the employer took no steps to notify workers, the employee e-mailed all company employees about the potential hazard. Less than an hour later, the car dealer terminated the employee, according to OSHA.
Following an OSHA whistleblower investigation that found the dealership illegally retaliated against the employee, violating whistleblower protections of the Occupational Safety and Health Act, the DOL filed a lawsuit in October 2021.
In a related case, the DOL and the National Labor Relations Board negotiated an agreement on July 26, 2022, between the employee and Hi Tech Motorcars LLC, Hi Tech Imports LLC, Hi Tech Luxury Imports LLC, and Hi Tech Partners LLC that required the company to pay the employee $116,231 in back wages and to...
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