What Every Truck Driver Should Know ... Part One

Surface Transportation Assistance Act (STAA)
49 U.S.C. §31105

[HR][/HR] §31105 Employee protections.

(a) Prohibitions. -

(1) A person may not discharge an employee, or discipline or discriminate against an employee regarding pay, terms, or privileges of employment, because -



(A)



(i) the employee, or another person at the employee's request, has filed a complaint or begun a proceeding related to a violation of a commercial motor vehicle safety or security regulation, standard, or order, or has testified or will testify in such a proceeding; or
(ii) the person perceives that the employee has filed or is about to file a complaint or has begun or is about to begin a proceeding related to a violation of a commercial motor vehicle safety or security regulation, standard, or order;



(B) the employee refuses to operate a vehicle because -



(i) the operation violates a regulation, standard, or order of the United States related to commercial motor vehicle safety, health, or security; or
(ii) the employee has a reasonable apprehension of serious injury to the employee or the public because of the vehicle's hazardous safety or security condition;



(C) the employee accurately reports hours on duty pursuant to chapter 315;
(D) the employee cooperates, or the person perceives that the employee is about to cooperate, with a safety or security investigation by the Secretary of Transportation, the Secretary of Homeland Security, or the National Transportation Safety Board; or
(E) the employee furnishes, or the person perceives that the employee is or is about to furnish, information to the Secretary of Transportation, the Secretary of Homeland Security, the National Transportation Safety Board, or any Federal, State, or local regulatory or law enforcement agency as to the facts relating to any accident or incident resulting in injury or death to an individual or damage to property occurring in connection with commercial motor vehicle transportation.



(2) Under paragraph (1)(B)(ii) of this subsection, an employee's apprehension of serious injury is reasonable only if a reasonable individual in the circumstances then confronting the employee would conclude that the hazardous safety or security condition establishes a real danger of accident, injury, or serious impairment to health. To qualify for protection, the employee must have sought from the employer, and been unable to obtain, correction of the hazardous safety or security condition.


(b) Filing Complaints and Procedures. - (1) An employee alleging discharge, discipline, or discrimination in violation of subsection (a) of this section, or another person at the employee's request, may file a complaint with the Secretary of Labor not later than 180 days after the alleged violation occurred. All complaints initiated under this section shall be governed by the legal burdens of proof set forth in section 42121(b). On receiving the complaint, the Secretary of Labor shall notify, in writing, the person alleged to have committed the violation of the filing of the complaint.

http://www.whistleblowers.gov/acts/staa.html

 

Arizona Trucking Company Ordered to Reinstate Former Employee and Pay $315,000 Settlement for Violating the Whistleblower Provision of STAA

September 11th, 2012 · No Comments

M3 Transport LLC/SLT Expressway Inc. and its successors-in-interest, Lyons Capital LLC and the Roadmaster Group in Glendale, Arizona, were ordered last week by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) to reinstate a former truck driver and pay him $315,000 in damages after being found to have violated the Surface Transportation Assistance Act (STAA).

On February 8, 2010, the employee was assigned a new co-driver to transport explosives to Canada. When the employee found the vehicle’s ashtray overflowing with cigarette butts, he notified his supervisors because his co-driver’s smoking while hauling explosives violates federal regulations. The employee was then ordered to go home until he was assigned a new co-driver. Two days later, however, the company terminated him. OSHA determined that the termination was a retaliatory action taken because the employee reported his co-worker’s violations of federal law, and that the company therefore violated STAA.

In addition to ordering reinstatement and paying the former employee, M3 Transportation must also remove any adverse references related to the discharge from the employee’s personnel records and post a notice to inform all employees of their rights under STAA.

The Employment Law Group® law firm is a leader in the field of whistleblower protection law and has an extensive nationwide whistleblower practice representing employees – including commercial motor carrier whistleblowers – who have exposed illegal activity by their employer and suffered retaliation.

http://employmentlawgroupblog.com/a...iolating-the-whistleblower-provision-of-staa/