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Fired for Bringing Up Osha Violations and Not Getting Breaks

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  • 05-31-2010, 12:12 PM
    nine_lives
    Fired for Bringing Up Osha Violations and Not Getting Breaks
    My question involves labor and employment law for the state of: California

    I work as a veterinary technician. I was employed at a small veterinary clinic that was recently purchased by a new owner. I was initially employed on a "probationary" trial period of 90 days, however I was fired after only working there for a month.

    These are some issues I had that I believe led to my termination:

    Not having an employee safely program, they asked me to review OSHA safety standards and help bring the facility into compliance. I made a very long list of things that needed to be corrected, some of those things were somewhat simple (having labels on secondary containers, first aid kit, safety training, etc) others were going to be costly (having exhaust fans in x-ray developing room, eye wash station, etc). Nothing was ever done about the violations I pointed out and we were expected to continue to work in an unsafe manner.

    I asked about the procedure for handling potential injuries - who our worker's compensation carrier and where are we supposed to go for treatment if injured on the job. This is something that is supposed to be posted. I was told that they had the information and would provide it when needed.

    Part of my job was to operate the x-ray machine but I was not issued a dosimeter. I expressed my concern about not having monitoring equipment and was told that a badge was being ordered for me but I never received one. I felt pressured to continue to operate the x-ray machine since I was still on my probationary period.

    The clinic was extremely busy with scheduling patients that didn't leave the staff any time to take legally required breaks - often working 10+ hours with only the occasional 30 min break for lunch. Never got to take 10 minute break in the morning or afternoon. When bringing this up at staff meetings the manager told us that they didn't have a solution for the staff to be able to take breaks and it was up to the us to figure it out.

    Several days before I was terminated, some movers were bringing in a desk and they sat it down in a manner that blocked the exit from the room I was in. I had to stoop down to get out and in doing so hit my head on the corner of the desk, causing a 1" laceration that was bleeding. At no point did my supervisor ask if I was ok or offer my any aid. We were short handed on that day and I felt pressured not to leave to seek medical attention as I was the only licensed technician that was needed to assist with an anesthetic procedure.

    Do I have any sort of recourse against this employer? If so, what steps should I take?
  • 05-31-2010, 01:41 PM
    cbg
    Re: Fired for Bringing Up Osha Violations and Not Getting Breaks
    You may. CA laws are somewhat different than those of the rest of the country so I hesitate to be too specific. However, CA is also well known to be the most employee-friendly state in the US. You might want to give an employment attorney a call as the easiest way to resolve this, since the issues you mention spread over more than one regulatory agency.
  • 05-31-2010, 02:05 PM
    cyjeff
    Re: Fired for Bringing Up Osha Violations and Not Getting Breaks
    How many people in the office?
  • 05-31-2010, 02:08 PM
    nine_lives
    Re: Fired for Bringing Up Osha Violations and Not Getting Breaks
    Quote:

    Quoting cyjeff
    View Post
    How many people in the office?

    6 employees total. Typically there would be myself, an assistant, a receptionist, and the doctor working on a given day
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