News
Recent amendments to the Consumer Product Safety Act of 1972 have established new whistleblower protections for employees of manufacturers, private labelers, distributors, and retailers of consumer products. Eligible employees are now protected from job termination or other forms of retaliation for having raised a consumer product safety complaint with their employer, the Federal Government, or a local state attorney general. Previously, except in the rare event state laws provided a cause of action, such employees could not file a lawsuit and seek damages. Under this new legislation, an employee can file a claim with the U.S. Department of Labor seeking damages and, in the event the Department does not resolve the matter within 210 days, file a lawsuit in court. Unlike in any other federal whistleblower statute, this statute expressly permits the individual to have his or her claim brought before a jury. "These amendments expose a broader scope of businesses to retaliatory complaints than ever before, meaning a huge number of companies now need to be educated on their new responsibilities," says Scott Gross, a partner in the Litigation Department of Wildman Harrold's (Chicago). "For example, a retailer like Best Buy now has to ensure that they have mechanisms in place through which employees can make complaints or raise concerns about consumer product safety, but simultaneously they need to establish policies and training that discourage any type of retaliation against such complaints. It can be a delicate balance for an employer, to comply fully with the new protections by enabling channels for employee complaints, but at the same time enacting measures that minimize the company's legal risk." Gross has been counseling employers on whistleblower issues for more than 10 years and has defended employers in dozens of cases before the U.S. Department of Labor against whistleblower claims pursuant to statutes such as Sarbanes-Oxley and the Atomic Energy Act. He is available to author an article that provides an overview of these new amendments. The article will lend practical advice for companies on how to create their whistleblower policies properly so as to avoid litigation and minimize the risks of exposure should litigation occur.
Channel: Jaffe Legal News Service - Articles for Publication
| Copyright © 2004-2006 AskQ | Web Hosting by cHosting.com |