Illegal activities of Southern Bosses for the weeks between Friday, August 15, and Friday, August 22
North Carolina Discriminators
Smithfield Fresh Meats Corp., a Virginia-based corporation which operates a facility in Tarheel, North Carolina, violated federal law when it refused to provide a reasonable accommodation to an employee for pregnancy-related limitations, forced her to take unpaid leave and then fired her, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) charged in a lawsuit.
According to the lawsuit, the employee informed Smithfield of her pregnancy shortly after she was hired. After the employee was involved in a workplace accident, she began having pregnancy-related complications that required medical attention. Her physician imposed certain restrictions on her, including a lifting restriction. The employee told Smithfield of the restrictions and requested a reasonable accommodation. Smithfield, which operates the largest pork processing facility in the world, told the employee that Smithfield does not provide accommodations for pregnancy. Smithfield then required the employee to take unpaid leave and, approximately two weeks later, fired her.
Such alleged conduct violates the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act (PWFA), which requires employers to provide reasonable accommodations for pregnancy, and Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits discrimination because of pregnancy. The EEOC filed suit (EEOC v. Smithfield Fresh Meats Corp., Case No. 7:25-cv-01410-M) in U.S. District for the Eastern District of North Carolina after first attempting to reach a pre-litigation settlement through its administrative conciliation process. The EEOC seeks monetary damages for the employee, including compensatory and punitive damages, and injunctive relief against the employer to prevent such unlawful conduct in the future.
Public Workers
Jordan Barab, on his Confined Space newsletter, wrote about recent deaths among public sector workers, and took the time to highlight the fact that many public sector workers do not have safety protections at all.
Fifty-five years after Congress declared passed a law committing “to assure so far as possible every working man and woman in the Nation safe and healthful working conditions,” public employees in 23 states public employees inexplicably remain second class citizens, without the right to a safe workplace, without the right to come home alive and well at the end of the workday.
Over the past few weeks, at least four public employees have been killed in states with no OSHA coverage for public employees. (This list excludes several law enforcement officers and firefighters who are killed doing their jobs each week. For example, over the past two weeks, at least 6 law enforcement officers and firefighters have died on the job.)
- Paul Linville was killed in an apparent trench collapse in Milton, West Virginia.
- Chase Cupp, a Scott City, Kansas, public workers employee was killed in a workplace accident on July 18. It is unclear how Cupp died. According to news reports, he was found dead by another employee at the city’s water tower.
- Robert Saucedo, 23, suffered what was described only as a “fatal injury” while making repairs to the leak in Sweetwater, Texas. It is unclear how Saucedo died, but in an interview with Saucedo’s mother-in-law, said the incident involved a saw.
- Levi Phillips, 58, a Street Department employee was killed in a single-vehicle crash in Alexandria City, Louisiana. Phillips was taken to a local hospital, where he died from his injuries.
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No one knows who will be investigating, because there is no OSHA coverage of local government employees in West Virginia, and therefore no objective agency that conducts any kind of investigation into the deaths of public employees. According to WSAZ, other agencies and organizations that will not be investigating include the West Virginia Division of Labor, West Virginia State Police, West Virginia Public Service Commission, Cabell County Sheriff’s Office, and West Virginia Rural Water Association.
WSAZ also submitted a Freedom of Information Act request for work order, safety equipment and gear being used as well as safety protocols for these types of jobs.
At least one West Virginia Republican state legislator is unhappy with the current situation.
State Delegate Dana Ferrell, R-Kanawha, who is the Chair of the House Local Governments Committee, told WSAZ that he’s considering legislation to prevent something like this from happening again.
“My heart goes out to the family and friends of the Milton city worker that was killed on the job last week,” Ferrell said in a statement to WSAZ. “This accident is absolutely tragic and, as public officials, it is our job to do all we can to make sure incidents like this never happen again.”
“In my capacity as chair of the House Local Governments Committee, I plan to do a full review of our state and local safety regulations to ensure the highest standards are upheld to protect our state’s workers,” the statement concludes.
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Had Linville (the West Virginia public sector employee) been killed about a half hour west, in Kentucky, or if Saucedo had been killed a few hours over the state line in New Mexico, OSHA would be conducting an investigation,
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Why haven’t more states passed public employee OSHA laws? If you listen to organizations like the League of Cities, Conference of Mayors and National Association of Counties, who all oppose public employee coverage, it’s because public employers are already doing a wonderful job protecting their employees and they don’t need any more burdensome laws and standards standards to tell them to do what they’re already doing.
Also, they argue, OSHA coverage would cost too much for strapped government budgets. Not a good use of taxpayer dollars.
Of course, they never answer the question of how something they’re allegedly already doing can cost too much to do?
There is a lot more great information on his website, so please check it out 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 new filings from this week:
- Ocean Casino Resort (NJ) hired American Labor Relations Group for $390/hour
- Jim Monica is the Founder and President of American Labor Relations Group. He was previously a labor attorney. He earned his J.D. from Hofstra University and from 2007 to 2011, he worked for local unions in arbitrations, collective bargaining, and Federal court litigation. He moved to employment law and worked for Littler Mendelson from 2011 to 2015.
- Workers won the union election nevertheless 35 – 10
- The union busters didn’t file until after the election was over
- Chico Heights Rehab and Wellness Centre dba Autumn Creek Post Acute (CA) hired the AZ Alignment Group Association
- Convalarium Operations (OH) hired Labor Relations Specialists for $3,500/day
- Ricardo Pasalagua is the president of Labor Relations Specialists. He was found to have violated the NLRA in a campaign at Green Fleet in 2013. According to the unfair labor practice charge, Pasalagua “unlawfully encouraged the antiunion drivers to harass and provoke union supporters”. He tried to provoke union supporters into fighting and encouraged anti-union workers to call their pro-union colleagues “pigs” and “trash”. Pasalagua also threatened to sue workers if they did not “withdraw their unfair labor practice allegations”. He was found to be an unreliable witness.
- Workers won the union election 23 – 18, but the employer is now objecting to the results
- The union busters didn’t file until after the election was over
As a reminder, 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.