Truck Driver Reinstated After Refusing to Drive in Winter Weather

The U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration has ordered a Kentucky trucking company to reinstate a driver who was fired after refusing to drive in hazardous winter conditions. OSHA ordered Florence-based Freight Rite Inc. to pay the driver $31,569 in back wages and interest, $100,000 in punitive damages, $50,000 in compensatory damages and reasonable attorney fees, and to refrain from retaliating against him. According to OSHA, the driver told his managers he was worried that driving in the winter weather would be dangerous to himself and the public. The driver’s termin...