The U.S. Department of Labor has obtained a consent judgment requiring a Connecticut dentist to pay $24,000 in back wages to a former employee who the department claims was fired in retaliation for filing a complaint with the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA).
On January 16, 2011, an employee of the Brookfield, CT, dental practice of Scott Bialik, DDS, filed a complaint with OSHA's Bridgeport area office about "what she experienced to be extremely cold working conditions" in the front office and waiting area of the pediatric dental practice, according to court documents.
OSHA contacted Dr. Bialik on January 18, 2011, and the employee was discharged on January 20, 2011. She then filed a whistleblower complaint with OSHA, and a subsequent OSHA investigation found evidence to verify the claim of retaliation, the department noted in a news release.
"Employers must understand that their employees have a legal right to raise workplace safety and health concerns and to file a complaint with OSHA without fear of retaliation or discrimination. Such actions are prohibited under the law," said Michael Felsen, the department's regional solicitor for New England. "When our investigations find merit to workers' complaints of retaliation, we will take all appropriate legal action on behalf of those workers."
Dr. Bialik has agreed to pay his former employee $24,630 in back wages and interest, as well as pay $5,000 in emotional distress damages, display the OSHA poster with information about whistleblower rights -- in English and Spanish -- in his workplace, expunge the employee's personnel record, and provide a neutral job reference.
