Workforce Panel Democrats Seek Answers from Labor’s Su on Inspection Tip-offs

• Top Democrats on the U.S. House Committee on Education and the Workforce and its Workforce Protection Subcommittee are seeking from Acting Labor Secretary Julie Su concerning allegations that certain state OSHA agencies may have misused federal funds and provided advance notice to employers of workplace safety inspections.
• The Aug. 20 letter from the respective ranking members of the committee and subcommittee — Reps. Bobby Scott (VA) and Alma Adams (NC) — followed recent news reports of allegations surrounding OSHA agencies and employers in California and South Carolina.
• “If these allegations are true, it means that our federal funds, meant to ensure safe and fair workplaces, might be enabling exactly the opposite,” the pair’s letter read, adding that it’s “crucial that we get to the bottom of this and hold those responsible accountable.”
• The legislators highlighted a February report from Cal Matters documenting allegations that staff from the California Division of Occupational Safety and Health might be tipping off employers about when inspections are going to occur.
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Perdue Files Challenge to Agency Judge in Whistleblower Case

• Perdue Farms has asked a North Carolina federal court to block a U.S. Labor Department administrative law judge from overseeing a case that accuses the poultry processor of retaliating against a whistleblower.
• Perdue’s Aug. 20 filing argues that the proceeding violates its right to a jury trial.
• Contractor Craig Watts in 2015 filed an OSHA whistleblower complaint alleging that Perdue had not adequately controlled sanitation in its hatcheries, among other charges.
• Tuesday’s motion is at least the second lawsuit to target the agency’s administrative law judge following the U.S. Supreme Court’s June ruling in SEC v. Jarkesy.
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