Florida Shooting Range Agrees to Pay Terminated Employee $30,000 To Settle U.S. Department of Labor Whistleblower Allegations

ORLANDO, FL – In a settlement with the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), Shooting Gallery Range Inc. – a shooting range based in Orlando, Florida – has agreed to pay an employee $30,000 in back wages and compensatory damages. The settlement is reflected in a U.S. District Court consent judgment issued January 24, 2020.

The action follows an employee’s allegation that the employer fired him after he reported safety concerns to the employer and OSHA, pertaining to lead exposure. Reporting safety and health concerns to OSHA, or to an employer, is a protected activity under Section 11(c) of the Occupational Safety and Health Act. 

The consent judgment also forbids the company from violating provisions of Section 11(c), and requires the company to expunge the disciplinary actions from the employee’s personnel file. OSHA will also provide training to this company’s employees covering their rights under Section 11(c).

“The Occupational Safety and Health Act protects employees who exercise their right to report safety concerns, and it prohibits an employer from retaliating against an employee for reporting those concerns to a management official or to OSHA,” said OSHA Regional Administrator Kurt Petermeyer, in Atlanta, Georgia.

OSHA’s Whistleblower Protection Program enforces the whistleblower provisions of more than 20 whistleblower statutes. These statutes protect employees from retaliation for reporting violations of various workplace safety and health, airline, commercial motor carrier, consumer product, environmental, financial reform, food safety, health insurance reform, motor vehicle safety, nuclear, pipeline, public transportation agency, railroad, maritime and securities laws; and for engaging in other related protected activities. For more information on whistleblower protections, visit OSHA’s Whistleblower Protection Programs webpage.

Under the Occupational Safety and Health Act, employers are responsible for providing safe and healthful workplaces for their employees. OSHA’s role is to ensure these conditions for America’s working men and women by setting and enforcing standards, and providing training, education and assistance. For more information, visit http://www.osha.gov.

The mission of the Department of Labor is to foster, promote, and develop the welfare of the wage earners, job seekers, and retirees of the United States; improve working conditions; advance opportunities for profitable employment; and assure work-related benefits and rights.

Editor’s note: The U.S. Department of Labor does not release the names of employees involved in whistleblower complaints.

Civil Action Number: 6:19-cv-2304-Orl-78LRH