A driver who was fired after he stood up for himself and refused to drive an unsafe truck has been vindicated after the carrier who fired him was ordered to pay over $45,000 by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration.
Brindi Trailer Sales and Services Inc., the New York Carrier who fired the unnamed driver, was notified of defective equipment on the truck including issues with the brakes, steering and turn signals. The truck also had leaks, and a cracked windshield.
Despite being notified, the company refused to do anything to repair the issues. Unwilling to drive an unsafe vehicle any longer, the driver notified the Pennsylvania DOT who performed an inspection and found 16 violations, putting the truck out of service for repairs.
According to the driver’s claim, when he notified the carrier that the truck had been placed out of service, he was fired immediately. According to Robert Kulick, the OSHA regional administrator for New York, the driver “was fired for doing the right thing.”
The driver filed a whistleblower complaint with OSHA, who ruled in his favor and ordered the carrier to pay the driver $32,642 in lost wages, $10,000 in punitive damages, and $3,060.02 in attorney’s fees. In addition, the carrier was ordered to expunge the driver’s employment records.
Source: businessinsurance, gobytrucknews, truckinginfo
Steve Kassa says
It’s about time Somebody started standing in the driver’s corner I just wish the state of Texas would come around and get behind its people.
Samuel says
Well it’s about time, something for the driver, take along over due vacation, DRIVER THAT’S AN ORDER 10-4
Dave Stout says
Good for the driver. Yeah I quit Waste Management in Columbia South Carolina because their trucks were in such bad shape that I felt they were unsafe. The last day of work my truck broke down in the dump. Mechanics gave me a ride back to the office and I never went back. Now I work for a really good 18 wheeler company again.
John says
Same here. I think it was the district manager. Because once he left, different / better equip came in. I hated helping on other routes just because my truck was doing ok that day, I knew I would have a few bad days that week with my truck breaking down. Always had hell with the hydraulic cylinders leaking for the body to raise at the landfill and blade moving slowly on the route.
K. Hood says
When are more people going to stand up . This guy is America. 9
Anthony says
Good job driver…That’s one of those companies that could careless about the driver, but advertise they do…You know the ones…”GET RESPECT”!! Ya…If they put that in the truckers magazine…Rest assured you’ll never get it.
Brian says
Good for him. Every driver should remember that it is their responsibility to refuse to drive bad equipment. Need to have a backbone, or get out of the business. That company is just one of many bottom feeders out there.
royce says
So that’s how it’s done? A whistle blower report with OSHA.
Hmm……well, I don’t drive for companies where that ever would be an issue.
Although I can be quite a stinker when it comes to insisting on repairs when I am in the yard.
Whistle blower reports would only be handy if you were already so screwed it just wouldn’t matter.
Paul Taylor says
Don’t be surprised. Some companies that are good overall have been found to have retaliated against drivers because they have filed safety-related complaints or refused to violate a commercial vehicle safety regulation.
This case mentioned in the OSHA press release was my client’s case. Paul Taylor, Truckers Justice Center.
Ross says
Good for the driver. Bet these companies will start to listen to us now
jOE sCHMOE says
Drivers ordered to operate defective and faulty equipment under threat of being fired? This only happens once every five or six years and the driver always wins the case after complaining. Always.
Geri mann says
Not always. I called DOT about an unsafe trk and it got reported to OSHA but nothing was done and i was fired for calling DOT on that company. SO NOT ALWAYS DOES THE DRIVER WIN
d hnderson says
then stay on their ass–I have taken 6 company’s to court and have won 6 times-never take no for an answer
sudon't says
Suing is not always easy, even if you’re in the right. People on a trucker’s wage can’t always afford to hire a lawyer, especially one who’s just been fired and, unless there’s the promise of big money, lawyers won’t take the case on contingency.
The “justice” system works better if you have money.
Paul Taylor says
Not always. Moreover, these cases are much more frequent than you might think. I file about 5 of these types of cases per month, and that is just one law firm.
Paul Taylor
Truckers Justice Center
Kajidono says
Figure for every 5 cases you file, 500 more go unreported. It’s very difficult to find a decent lawyer these days.
Joe says
In four years with PMTG, I lost
Over six months pay with broken down equipment.
Nothing I could do about it.
Make sure your company pays down time before hiring on.
Paul says
My question is why the hell did he even start driving this piece of sht truck?
Wasnt he supposed to do a PTI, find all those issues and refuse to drive it???
Doenst make any sense to me.
Paul G says
Based on the outcome, his hand was very well played. I won’t be questioning his tactics.
Paul Taylor says
There is more to it. I will be posting a copy of the complete decision from OSHA within the next week.
Paul Taylor
Truckers Justice Center
Username*Gordon A says
A lot depends on the company. Second class trucking company attract second class drivers. How many times have you seen a truck next to you where the drivers gets up, dumps his pee bottle then fires up the truck and leaves. NO Pre trip at all. Today many drivers have no clue if thier trailer brakes are working properly or not. No real way to test them as we do with the Johnny bar . One pedal does it all . Far too many of todays drivers have little or no mechanical aptitude to even know if something is wrong.A flat tires is easy to diagnose. Anything else is a guessing game. Many carriers do not want the driver to pull over the hood for any reason.It starts, it goes into gear, it stops. Anything else is superficial.It will wait till the truck gets to a terminal. Meanwhile…….
Kudos to the drivers that do understand safety. Understand the rules and understands what happens when safety is ignored and are not job scared nor intimidated. It is the few drivers with a back bone that bring a notice to the second class carriers.Straighten up or close your doors
Paul Taylor says
Sometimes good drivers end up driving for second rate companies because they have been blackballed illegally.
Kevin says
Years ago I briefly parked my truck, drove for someone else. The guy would not fix his equipment. He was a scrap hauler. Got in his truck headed for a DOT cop I knew would be working, got him to follow me, pull me over and DOT the truck and trailer. Needless to say a “miracle” happened he suddenly started fixing ALL of his equipment. Me decided it was better to drive my own that I serviced regularly
Paul Taylor says
That is a good way to handle the matter.
m says
here’s a good one for you guys.Once I was on the scales in New London , Ct. and I had gotten a green light . I just sat there for a minute or two until the scale master came out to find out what was wrong so I told him to check out my worn tires and he looked at them ,then at me and said ,”We aren’t checking tires today , have a nice day.” My drives needed to be replaced but there was still ample tread for another couple of months but the officer could have at least written them up .
Glenn says
Hey, an east coast trucking company, now that’s a surprise! Hardly
When I used to run east coast, now referred to as the ‘far east’ coast, the shoddy equipment that I used to see running up and down the highways was astonishing, nothing but absolute buckets of bolts on 17 wheels every day. The 18th tire was usually flat and ‘whapping’ as they’d go by.
Mirrors missing, half the lights out, tires wobbling, missing mud flap(s), you name it, it’d be running up and down the turnpike. The driver would be in the cab trying to hang on so he would bounce around the cab like a superball.
Nowhere else in country was the equipment worse than on the east coast.
^3 up – 10-4, boy isn’t that the truth! ‘Gordon A’ pretty much summed it up like it is, sadly.
Nicholas says
This happened to me last summer. I was working for a regional company and they were constantly forcing me to drive badly-maintained trucks or pull trailers with bad brakes. They even yelled at me for being late when I was having to deal with equipment that shouldn’t be on the road. When I put my foot down, they fired me. How do I go about making a complaint? I could really use the money.
Infosaur says
I just quit a company like that.
Equipment was terrible, but I tried to be a good sport and over a few weeks I started getting some of the more urgent issues fixed.
Then I got pulled over for expired tags. THREE YEARS expired!! I started looking for an exit the next day.
It’s a shame because it was a postal contractor, and the job was easy and the money was good. But the assumption by the company that “nobody DOT’s mail trucks” was too dangerous to my livelihood. (Actually, when preparing to fight my ticket, I found that federally owned vehicles are exempt from DOT! My defense was going to be that the truck was ‘owned’ by the post office, but I got off on a minor technicality anyway)