Some of the earliest safety measures date back to the 1880s, when Massachusetts passed factory safety and health laws requiring elevator inspections and ensuring that factories had enough fire exits.

After 362 miners were killed in a U.S. mine collapse in 1907, the U.S. Bureau of Mines was established to promote mine safety. That same year, an investigative journalist uncovered that about 1,200 workers were killed each year in the steel industry.

If you’ve read Upton Sinclair’s The Jungle, you know the author secretly worked in Chicago’s meatpacking plants and exposed the unfair, unsanitary, and often dangerous working conditions. Some good came from this book. President Roosevelt pushed for heightened safety through the Meat Inspection Act and the Pure Food and Drug Act. 

It was a start. The Department of Labor was formed in 1913. The goal of this new government agency was to protect workers by improving working conditions.

OSHA came much later, under President Nixon. Its goal focused on workplace safety and health. Since its establishment, workplace fatalities have fallen by 60%, while injuries and illnesses have fallen by 40%. 

Safety protocols set by state and federal agencies are crucial to a healthy, safe workplace. Yet, some employers continue to push employees to ignore specific rules. If you insist on following the safety rules and lose your job, it’s wrongful termination.

The Realities of At-Will Employment

California and many other states follow at-will employment rules. This means your employer has the right to terminate your employment without notice. You have the right to quit without notice.

There are exceptions to this rule. If you are a union employee with a contract, both you and the company must follow the rules in the union contract. If you have another type of employment contract, any termination rules, such as providing you with a month’s notice or requiring you to stay on long enough to find a replacement, are followed.

The termination cannot be for an illegal reason. Your employer couldn’t terminate your position because you’re 50 and getting too close to retirement age. Other protected classes in California include:

• Ancestry
• Color
• Disability (mental or physical)
• Gender identity/expression
• Genetic information
• Marital status
• Medical condition
• Military/veteran status
• National origin
• Pregnancy
• Race
• Religion, including grooming and religious clothes/garments
• Sex/gender
• Sexual orientation

As those protections don’t specifically cover things like refusing to ignore safety protocols, people may not realize they have the right to refuse to perform their job duties if they ignore Section 11(c) of the Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) Act. This federal rule protects you if:

• You are asked to testify in a legal action.
• You ask for an alternative means to do the job safely.
• You file a complaint with OSHA or a state agency.
• You refuse to perform work duties if you suspect serious injury or death is possible.
• You report unsafe or unhealthy working conditions to a supervisor, HR, or other person in management.

You’re also protected if you:

• Act as a representative of your company during an OSHA investigation.
• Discuss safety issues with coworkers.
• Participate in safety activities with your union.
• Request information on hazards, such as Safety Data Sheets or results from industrial hygiene tests, such as air or water quality tests.

OSHA’s Role in Safety Complaints

If you are demoted, harassed, or fired for speaking up about workplace safety, file a complaint with OSHA. However, you don’t have much time. You must file a complaint with OSHA’s Secretary of Labor within 30 days of the termination or other discriminatory act.

Safety-related workplace issues aren’t always what you might think of as “safety issues.” In a food manufacturing plant, you might think of a safety-related issue as having no guardrails around a giant vat of liquid with a worker falling in. It can also be:

• Allowing an unlicensed driver to operate a forklift to meet quotas and firing that worker when they crash.
• Failing to provide health care workers with personal protective equipment (PPE) like masks and medical gloves, and a worker is fired for missing too much work after getting a bloodborne virus.
• Refusing to pay for safety harnesses for roofers and requiring them to bring their own if they want to use them, and then firing a worker who falls.
• Using monetary “no-injury bonuses” to persuade workers from reporting injuries.

California’s Statutes Provide Additional Protections

OSHA offers one layer of protection, but California increases it. Your workplace cannot discriminate against you or terminate your position because you’ve:

• Made an oral or written complaint with another government agency.
• Participate in an occupational health and safety committee.
• Report a work-related injury, illness, or fatality.
• Request access to any injury or illness reports.
• Testify for your own or another’s workplace safety complaint.

If you are fired for any of the above reasons, you have the right to be:

• Awarded any promotions and raises you would have received
• Cleared of any incidents or performance issues that were listed as reasons you were terminated
• Reimbursed for lost wages and benefits
• Reinstated to your position for the same rate of pay you were getting

All of this is to take place, even if the safety issue you reported in good faith turned out to be okay. For example, you reported a problem with what you believed was a broken heater. It turned out it was unplugged. It’s a mistake on your part, not an intentional lie, so you’re protected.

Section 6311 is specific to terminations that occur when you refuse to comply with unsafe job duties. Your employer is required to provide a safe workplace. If you’re fired for refusing to work because you suspect there’s a safety violation, you have the right to demand lost wages.

Labor Code 1102.5 is a whistleblower statute in California. Your employer cannot retaliate if you file a complaint on your own or someone else’s behalf for anything you “reasonably believe” was a violation of California or federal regulations or rules.

If you are terminated, your employer must prove beyond a reasonable doubt that you were terminated for a legal reason and not one related to your refusal to work, filing a complaint about workplace safety, or pointing out a safety issue.

Have You Lost Your Job After Speaking Up or Refusing to Work?

If you’re fired for following safety protocols, it is a form of wrongful termination. Your employer cannot ignore safety rules set by OSHA or the State of California. While at-will employment laws allow your employer to fire workers as needed, terminating someone’s job for speaking up about unsafe conditions or practices is wrong. Don’t let your employer get away with it.

Don’t overlook the value of working with an expert in California’s employment discrimination and wrongful termination laws. Shegerian Conniff’s team of attorneys fights for your rights and ensures you receive a fair settlement. If your complaint goes to court, we’re the experts you need on your side. Schedule a free consultation now.