Boss Watch: 3/21 – 3/28

Jacob Morrison

Illegal activities of Southern Bosses for the weeks between Friday, March 21, and Friday, March 28

There continues to be no new enforcement actions or resolutions of enforcement actions at the EEOC, OSHA, MSHA, and DOL.

South Carolina Retaliator

From the International Association of Fire Fighters (IAFF): 

For years, Charleston fire fighters have raised concerns about the safety of their fire stations to department leadership, including at Robert Tackett’s home station, Station 9. Robert Tackett is an 11-year veteran of the Charleston Fire Department and Charleston Fire Fighters Association Local 61 member. There, fire fighters have been dealing with ongoing leaks, foul odors, excessive heat, and a growing concern about toxic mold exposures. The frustrations came to a boiling point in July 2024, when Tackett and his colleagues were being made to sleep in bunk rooms reaching temperatures of over 90 degrees.  

Feeling like he had exhausted all his options, Tackett brought the issue to his union leadership, who contacted the department to address the ongoing issue on his behalf.  

After Curia visited the station and heard directly from Tackett and others about the unsafe conditions fire fighters were dealing with, Tackett was informed, according to the lawsuit, that he would be “written up” for going outside the chain of command on the issue, and that he had used “bad judgment” by going to the union rather than letting the process “play out.”  

Nine days after the visit, Tackett was transferred to a new station – Station 7 – where he would have fewer opportunities for overtime work and which lacked an advanced hazmat response team, despite Tackett being the most senior expert on hazmat response while assigned to Station 9.  

Because of these actions, Tackett has filed a lawsuit in federal court against the city, Fire Chief Dan Curia, and Deputy Fire Chief Forrest Cockcroft, alleging the department violated his constitutional rights after he raised safety concerns about his station. The lawsuit, which was filed in the Charleston Division of the District of South Carolina, claims that the department’s retaliation against Tackett violated his First Amendment rights to free speech and union membership, and breached his Fourteenth Amendment right to due process. 

Local 61 had hoped to address this issue through good-faith cooperation with the department’s leadership. But after the department told the union it didn’t even recognize it as a legitimate representative of its members, President John Baker knew they had no other choice but to pursue litigation.

You can read more about the case here.

Butchered, Fell, And Crushed

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration is not being as public with its investigations, but there is typically a small news story whenever someone dies at work. 

On the Confined Space Newsletter – set up by Jordan Barab, a former OSHA official – Dylan Chamberlain compiles as many news stories on worker deaths as he can find every week. 

This week, they found 16 stories, including 8 from the South. A few lowlights: 

  • An Oklahoma poultry plant sanitation shift worker was killed in a plant accident that occurred in the early morning hours of March 18, according to local news reports. The man, Levigildo Ramirez, was working the overnight shift at OK Foods in Heavener, Okla., when he fell through grating into an auger while working. Emergency first responders were called to the facility around 3 a.m., and Ramirez was pronounced dead on the scene at 3:24 a.m., the report noted. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) is investigating, and OK Foods had not responded to requests for comment at the time of this writing.
  • A man died Thursday after apparently falling from the 19th floor at a construction site in downtown Atlanta, police said. Atlanta police responded to 327 Mitchell Street at the Centennial Yards development, where they found the man unresponsive. Lauinier Bonilla, a 20-year-old construction worker, died after falling from the 19th floor of a high-rise in Atlanta without wearing a safety harness. He was pronounced dead at the scene. No additional details have been shared about the circumstances surrounding the fall, but a spokesperson for the Department of Labor confirmed with 11Alive that an investigation by the Department of Occupational Safety and Health Administration, or OSHA, is underway.
  • A plant worker died in a forklift accident at the Hyundai battery joint venture meta site after a forklift apparently struck a worker. Hyundai Motor Group Metaplant America (HMGMA) has confirmed the fatality writing that “Around 4:45 p.m. today, an incident occurred at the battery joint venture property on the megasite. The initial indication is that a forklift struck a worker, resulting in fatal injuries to the male victim. The incident is under investigation.” Monday, Bryan County’s Deputy Coroner identified the victim as 45-year-old Sunbok You. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has confirmed to WTOC they are investigating the incident. This death comes after a worker was injured in early March, putting him in the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries accord to a Hyundai spokesperson. A WTOC investigative team uncovered in December that between April 2023 and July 2024, there were at least 53 injuries requiring emergency medical services on the site. 14 of those were described as “traumatic” injuries in Bryan County EMS records. There was also a death on the megasite in 2023 when a worker fell 60 feet and died. 

Read the rest here.

Union Busters

Brought to you by LaborLab: The nation’s leading watchdog standing with working families to stop employer coercion and intimidation. Visit www.laborlab.us for more info.

Here are the filings:

In addition, the following LM-20s were amended:

Due to a lack of enforcement, some labor relations consultants may disregard the law and fail to report their activities to the U.S. Department of Labor. Therefore, it’s crucial for organizers and workers to report suspected “persuader” activity to the U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Labor-Management Standards (OLMS).

It’s crucial for organizers and workers to report suspected “persuader” activity to the U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Labor-Management Standards (OLMS). You can reach them via email at  OLMS-Public@dol.gov, by calling (202) 693-0123, or by contacting your nearest OLMS District Office.

For assistance, please contact LaborLab at contact@laborlab.us.