OSHA: Company Must Reinstate Trucker Fired for Refusing to Drive Overweight Vehicle

Tuesday, July 21, 2020 | 0

The federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration ordered JHOS Logistics and Transportation Inc. to reinstate a driver fired for refusing to operate what the employee reasonably believed to be an overweight vehicle at the company's Wilmington, California, facility.

OSHA also ordered the company to pay more than $190,000 in back wages, $25,000 in punitive damages and $5,000 in compensatory damages.

OSHA investigators determined JHOS Logistics and Transportation Inc. violated the whistleblower provision of the Surface Transportation Assistance Act when the company terminated the employee.

Two months prior to the termination, the employee was cited for operating an overweight commercial motor vehicle, OSHA said in a statement. When asked to haul a similar load, the employee reasonably believed the vehicle was overweight.

In addition to the monetary penalties, the company must also train managers and post a notice informing their employees about workers' rights under the STAA.

The government doesn’t release the names of employees in whistleblower complaints.