Defamation in Chemical Industry

[knotts2002]

My husband has worked in the Chemical Industry for approx. 5 years. When he started out, he worked for a very large corporation which was world wide. After the plant he was employed at was documented as a "Terrorist Target" the plant shut down. He had since found employment with another Chemical company (MUCH smaller) - My husband handles hazardous materials everyday, and takes his health and the health of his co-workers very seriously. He found that at this smaller plant, they were NOT following OSHA's standards and regulations - which in this industry, is a NO NO!! There had been some water problems at the plant, which shut down all the eye wash stations - one of the supervisiors had told another employee to fill cylinders of acid, my husband spoke up and told them no way, not with out an eyewash station. Theere had been several incidents like that one, where my husband had quoted OSHA regulations.......which in return, led to his "insubordination" termination. My husband found employment with another plant. During his first week at this new plant, his old boss, who fired him - called his new boss and told him there was a reason my husband was fired, he is a bad seed - and so and so forth. Now his old boss admitted to his new boss that he knows he is NOT supposed to be saying the things that he said. So he knew he was in the wrong. And I believe that if my husbands new boss would not have known my husband previously to employment, that he would have been terminated. I am a full time student and we have two small children, so we depend on my husbands earnings to get us by. As if that wasn't enough, they took my husbands last paycheck and deducted his heath insurance out of it. When his insurance ceased before his last paycheck. It seems as though they are trying everyway to make it harder for my husband.
I would appreciate any input you have on this situation! Thanks

 

[NYClex]

Now I am not quite understanding what the situation in the current job is. The old boss called the current boss and told him all the bad stuff about your husband, but the current boss didn't act on that? That's good for your husband.

Regarding the problems at his former place of work, it depends on the exact job description, the laws and the jurisdiction that was in. There are so called "whistleblower" laws in many states that would protect someone from being fired for pointing out violations of safety rules, if this was his job. Now this can be really tricky. The best thing is to go to your department of labor and ask them what they think. At least here in NY the DOL has offices where people can get this kind of advice.

Otherwise you might want to consult an employment law attorney.