March 1, 2017
When a co-worker severed part of his thumb in July 2014, a food processor at a beef jerky manufacturing plant in West Virginia acted quickly, helping him apply pressure to the wound and using her cellphone to call 911.
Before responders could answer, the company’s owner ordered her to hang up. Instead of calling an ambulance, John M. Bachman – owner of Lone Star Western Beef, Inc., – collected the severed portion of the wounded worker’s thumb and told a company supervisor to drive the injured employee to an urgent care clinic. The injured worker ultimately was transferred to a hospital, where doctors were unable to reattach the severed body part.
In addition to her efforts to call for emergency assistance, the coworker noticed that Bachman did not clean or sanitize the area of the plant where the injury occurred fully. Later that afternoon, she discussed her concerns about the incident, cleanup, lack of appropriate personal protective equipment and her attempt to call 911 with a U.S. Department of Agriculture inspector. Two days after the incident, she was fired.
The U.S. Department of Labor filed a lawsuit against Lone Star and Bachman, seeking back wages and punitive damages for the terminated employee.
“Lone Star Western Beef punished an employee for seeking emergency medical care for a seriously injured co-worker. Her efforts were protected under Section 11(c) and showed basic human decency,” said Richard Mendelson, OSHA regional administrator in Philadelphia. “No worker should have to fear retaliation from their employer for calling 911 in an emergency, or taking other action to report a workplace safety or health incident.”
After she was fired, the co-worker called OSHA and filed a complaint alleging that Lone Star Western Beef Inc. – and John M. Bachman specifically – terminated her in retaliation for engaging in a protected activity under the Occupational Safety and Health Act. The agency’s investigation found that the company violated the act’s anti-discrimination provision, or Section 11(c), when Bachman terminated the complainant for trying to call 911 in response to the incident.
Read more at EHSToday.com
