Fort Worth trucking company must pay $100K after illegally firing driver: OSHA
A driver wrongfully fired by a Fort Worth trucking company for raising safety concerns will receive $100,000 in back pay and compensation, the U.S. Department of Labor said in a news release Thursday.
The Labor Department’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration determined in a federal whistleblower investigation that Balkan Express LLC violated the Surface Transportation Assistance Act, which protects commercial motor vehicle safety complaints, according to the release.
The company is ordered to reinstate the employee and “pay back wages, interest, compensatory, and punitive damages,” the release stated.
The release did not specify what the reported safety violations were, and a Labor Department spokesperson did not immediately respond to a question Thursday. The department said it does not release the names of employees involved in whistleblower complaints.
Balkan Express LLC did not immediately respond to a request for comment.