The Department of Labor (DOL) has petitioned the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania to force the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) to comply with Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) subpoenas, OSHA announced November 21.
The agency is conducting a whistleblower investigation at the USPS’s New Salem, Pennsylvania, facility. OSHA opened an investigation in October 2023 after an employee alleged in a whistleblower complaint that she was suspended after reporting a work-related injury and safety hazards involving an assigned vehicle.
The agency learned that immediately after an interview with a USPS manager regarding the suspension, USPS supervisors began surveilling the employee as she drove her truck. They later claimed to have seen the employee violating safety rules and then fired her based on the alleged infractions.
The employee amended her whistleblower complaint to include the termination as an additional act of retaliation.
The DOL has filed nine federal whistleblower suits since 2020 to protect USPS probationary employees who were fired after reporting injuries in California, Oregon, Pennsylvania, and Washington.
OSHA issued two subpoenas in the New Salem investigation:
- A subpoena to re-interview the manager, including making an audio recording of the interview, but the USPS refused to allow the audio recording unless OSHA also hired a court reporter to transcribe the interview.
- A document subpoena to obtain relevant documents and information. The USPS refused to produce certain documents.
The DOL has asked the court to enforce both subpoenas.
