In fiscal 2012, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) reported that employees filed 2,787 whistleblower retaliation claims. This number has been on the rise over the past few years, up from less than 2,200 in fiscal 2009. OSHA frequently trumpets its successes in these cases; for example, it issued a press release earlier this year after a signalman with Chicago’s Metra commuter railroad line was awarded $38,080 overtime, interest, compensatory damages and attorney’s fees.
“An employer does not have the right to retaliate against employees who report safety issues,” said Nick Walters, OSHA’s regional administrator in Chicago, in a press release. “When employees can’t report safety concerns on the job without fear of retaliation, worker safety and, in this case, passenger safety on Metra, becomes a serious concern.”