labor lawAdivision of labor law center

OSHA has ordered a Connecticut air cargo carrier to withdraw a lawsuit for defamation against 9 former employees and pay them more than $7.9 million in wages, damages and legal fees.

 

Southern Air, Inc.  specializes in long haul, heavy-lift air freight operations using the company’s B747 fleet of cargo planes.  Based in Norwich, the company has been in operation since 1999 when it acquired the fleet of the former Southern Air Transport Company.

 

Southern Air filed a defamation suite against 9 former employees in Connecticut Superior Court in May 2008 after some of the workers raised safety concerns with Southern Air, OSHA and the FAA or Federal Aviation Administration. The workers were all former flight crew members and subsequently filed a whistleblower complaint with OSHA.

 

OSHA’s investigation found that the company’s lawsuit was filed in retaliation for the worker’s  protected activities under the whistle bower provision of the Wendell H. Ford Aviation Investment and Reform Act for the 21^st Century or AIR21.

 

“This order sends a strong and clear message that these and other workers have the right to raise safety issues with their employers and regulatory agencies without fear of retaliation and intimidation,” said U.S. Secretary of Labor Hilda L. Solis. “The Labor Department will vigorously investigate such allegations and, where merited, order appropriate remedies for workers.”

 

As a result of the OSHA investigation, Southern Air is ordered to pay the complaining ex-employees more than $6 million in lost future earnings, plus $1.8 million – about $200,000 each – in compensatory damages and $129,789 in legal fees and costs.

 

In addition, the employer was ordered to purge the former employee’s personnel files of any references to the incident, including warnings, reprimands and other actions based on their whistleblower status.

 

The employer was also ordered to refrain from mentioning the former employees’ protected whistleblower activity or any other damaging information in any job references. In addition, the company agreed to provide all Southern Air crew members with copies of the FAA Whistleblower Protection Program poster and OSHA’s notice to employees, and to post the required notices in each company facility.

 

 

 

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1. Posted by: Duck Walk

   Air Carrier Hit With $7.9 Million OSHA Sanction
   By THOMAS B. SCHEFFEY
   In blistering terms, Southern’s 2008 lawsuit against the “disgruntled” pilots alleged false light invasion of privacy, defamation, conspiracy and unfair trade violations due to their “malicious and baleful” activities.“The complaint is nonsensical, it’s outrageous,” said Leon M. Rosenblatt,(left) a West Hartford labor lawyer who represents two of the pilots.“They say you guys are conspiring with the safety officer to promote safety.”

2. Posted by: Amelia

   Hi Duck! “Conspiring with the safety officer to promote safety”!! That’s a great one! It looks like OSHA did a good job here! Thanks for chiming in, and for reading the blogs!~ Amelia

3. Posted by: duck walk

   Amelia,

   I suspect there will be many intriguing developments as the legal proceedings progress and disclosures are made. Grab your popcorn!

4. Posted by: Amelia

   Hi duck walk! We agree! People who think HR is not interesting should follow cases like this one!~ Amelia