Legal Focus

COVID-19 has created an entirely new workplace safety issue within the purview of the Occupational Health and Safety Administration (“OSHA”). While workplace safety has always been an important focus of the school bus industry, employers must now consider how they are handling their own internal protocols with regard to the coronavirus. If an employee raises a COVID based workplace safety concern, employers should be aware of possible OSHA implications when responding to such complaints. This ...

The General Duties Clause of the Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSHA), says that “[e]ach employer shall furnish … employees … a place of employment … free from recognized hazards that are … likely to cause … serious physical harm to … employees”. 29 U.S.C. § 654, 5(a). Recently, OSHA fined a York, PA healthcare provider $98,000 because OSHA found that the employer did not properly respond to an employee’s request for help with treating violent patients. This article will discuss wh...

On May 12, 2016 OSHA published a final rule on reporting workplace injuries and illnesses that affects most school bus contractors. The OSHA final rule requires employers in certain industries to electronically submit the safety information which they are already required to collect and keep manually. Now, OSHA will post this information on its publicly accessible website.

Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 as amended prohibits employment discrimination and retaliation by employers against employees who file claims. Recently, retaliation claims have surpassed all other types of claims made by employees to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). While the EEOC guidance manual has not permitted employers to avoid claims of retaliation by the employer’s showing that there were other legitimate reasons for adverse action against an employee, the Un...

Good employers do not practice discrimination and know how to avoid unfounded claims. However, many employers are not aware of a growing trend in retaliation claims filed by employees. For the first time ever, retaliation claims surpassed racial discrimination claims as the most common Equal Employment and Opportunity Commission (EEOC) charge. See, U.S EEOC FY 2010 Performance and Accountability Report.