December 29th 2009

Freehold, NJ, company fails to comply with federal court order in OSHA whistleblower case; US marshals seize vehicle

U.S. marshals accompanied by special agents from the U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of the Inspector General today seized a vehicle at the residence of Richard Kohler, president of Brocon Petroleum Inc., after Brocon Petroleum and Kohler failed to pay $7,500 in back wages to a former employee. The back wages were the result of a consent judgment filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey to resolve a lawsuit filed by the Labor Department in March 2008.  

The suit was filed after OSHA found the company had violated the whistleblower provisions of the Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) Act. An investigation by OSHA’s Whistleblower Protection Program found the defendants had terminated the employee in retaliation because they suspected he had called OSHA and caused an inspection. The defendants fired the complainant following the inspection of the employer’s worksite conducted by OSHA in response to an anonymous complaint about safety practices at the worksite. Under the consent judgment, Brocon Petroleum had agreed to pay the former employee’s back wages in addition to removing all reference to suspension or discharge from the employee’s personnel file and posting a notice notifying current employees of their whistleblower rights. However, the company failed to comply with the monetary terms of the consent judgment.

“This action should send a clear message that there will be consequences for retaliating against employees who engage in activities protected by law,” says Robert Kulick, OSHA’s regional administrator in New York. “While OSHA is best known for ensuring the safety and health of employees, it is also a whistleblower protection agency.”




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OSHA has ordered Southern Air Inc., a Norwalk, Conn.-based air cargo carrier, to withdraw a lawsuit it filed against nine former employees and pay them more than $7.9 million in wages, damages and legal fees.

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

OSHA’s investigation found that the company’s lawsuit was filed in retaliation for the workers’ protected activities under the whistleblower provisions of the Wendell H. Ford Aviation Investment and Reform Act for the 21st Century (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 its investigation, OSHA issued a notice of findings and order to Southern Air directing the airline to do the following: