The Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 created the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (“OSHA”) to assure safe and healthful working conditions for working men and women. OSHA is part of the United States Department of Labor. Employees and their representatives have the right to file a complaint and request an OSHA inspection of their workplace if they believe there is a serious hazard, or their employer is not following OSHA standards. Workers do not have to know whether a specific OSHA standard has been violated to file a complaint. An OSHA complaint may be made online, by fax, by mail, or by phone.
The OSHA Regulations provide that “no person shall discharge or in any manner discriminate against any employee” because the employee “instituted or caused to be instituted any proceeding under or related to the Act.” OSHA § 11(c). OSHA administers whistleblower protection laws, and you can file a whistleblower complaint with OSHA. The whistleblower complaint form is located at https://www.osha.gov/whistleblower/WBComplaint.html.
However, “there is no private right of action under OSHA § 11(c).” Taylor v. Brighton Corp, 616 F.2d 256, 264 (6th Cir. 1979). As such, if you are filed for calling OSHA, you unfortunately cannot sue your former employer in federal court. Fortunately, Ohio recognizes “wrongful discharge in violation of public policy.” The common-law tort of wrongful discharge in violation of public policy, was first recognized by the Ohio Supreme Court of Ohio in Greeley v. Miami Valley Maintenance Contrs., Inc., 49 Ohio St. 3d 228 (1990).
Under Greeley, 49 Ohio St. 3d 228, a plaintiff must prove the following elements to prevail:
(1) A clear public policy exists and is manifested in a state or federal constitution, (2) dismissing employees under circumstances like those involved in the plaintiff’s dismissal would jeopardize the public policy (the jeopardy element), (3) the plaintiff’s dismissal was motivated by conduct related to the public policy (the causation element), and (4) the employer lacked an overriding legitimate business justification for the dismissal (the overriding-justification element). Sutton v. Tomco Machining, Inc. 129 Ohio St. 3d 153, 156 (2011).
Thus, state law creates the cause of action for wrongful discharge in violation of public policy in situations where employees are fired for reporting their employer to OSHA.
As with any claim, there is a statute of limitations for bringing a wrongful termination in violation of public policy claim. Therefore, you should contact an attorney immediately if you believe you were terminated for calling OSHA.