Employment Law Violations

• Author: Mahika Narula
• Pages: 667-717

EMPLOYMENT LAW VIOLATIONS

I. INTRODUCTION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 668

II. WORKER SAFETY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 669

A. Occupational Safety and Health Act. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 669

1. Employer’s Willful Violation of a Standard Causing Death 670

a. Elements of the Offense . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 670

i. Employer. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 670

ii. Willful Violation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 672

iii. Specific Standard, Rule, Order, or Regulation 673

iv. Causes Death of Employee . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 674

b. Defenses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 675

i. Preemption . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 675

ii. Unpreventable or Unforeseeable Employee

Misconduct . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 675

iii. Impossibility of Compliance . . . . . . . . . . . . . 676

iv. Greater Hazard. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 677

v. General Defenses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 677

2. Advance Notice of Inspection Without Authority . . . . . . . 678

3. False Representations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 678

4. Enforcement. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 679

5. Penalties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 683

B. Federal Mine Safety and Health Act. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 684

III. THE FAIR LABOR STANDARDS ACT. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 686

A. Prohibited Acts Under the FLSA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 686

1. Failing to Pay the Federal Minimum Wage or Overtime

Compensation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 687

2. Discharging an Employee for Filing a Complaint . . . . . . . 687

3. Discriminating on the Basis of Sex . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 688

B. Elements of the Offense . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 691

1. Employee. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 691

2. Employer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 695

3. Willful Violation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 697

C. Penalties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 698

D. Enforcement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 699

E. Defenses. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 700

IV. PAYMENT OR LOANS BY EMPLOYER TO EMPLOYEES OR LABOR

ORGANIZATIONS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 701

A. Elements of the Offense . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 702

1. Employer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 702

2. Willfulness. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 703

667

3. Pay or Lend Money or Thing of Value . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 704

4. Employee or Representative of an Employee . . . . . . . . . . 705

5. Request or Receive . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 707

B. Exceptions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 707

C. Penalties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 711

V. PROTECTING UNION FUNDS UNDER THE LABOR-MANAGEMENT REPORTING

AND DISCLOSURE ACT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 711

A. Elements of the Offense . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 713

1. Officer or Employee . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 713

2. Appropriation of Union Assets for One’s Own or Another’s

Purpose . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 714

3. Fraudulent Intent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 715

B. Defenses. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 716

C. Penalties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 717

I. INTRODUCTION

This Article analyzes statutes that create criminal liability for violations of occu-

pational safety and employment standards.

1

Congress has enacted regulatory

schemes to ensure worker safety, eliminate labor conditions detrimental to the

nation’s commerce and the general welfare of workers, and provide labor unions

with greater protection from corrupt union and management officials. Section II

discusses criminal sanctions relevant to worker safety under the Occupational

Safety and Health Act (“OSHA”)

2

and the Federal Mine Safety and Health Act

(“FMSHA”).

3

Section III analyzes criminal sanctions applicable to employment

practices under the Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”).

4

Section IV discusses

§ 302 of the Taft-Hartley Act (Labor Management Relations Act), which prohibits

employers from making payments and loans to employees or labor organizations.

5

Finally, Section V reviews § 501(c) of the Labor-Management Reporting and

Disclosure Act (“LMRDA”), which prevents appropriations of union funds for

non-union purposes.

6

1. This article does not discuss 18 U.S.C. § 664, which prohibits the embezzlement and theft of property from

an employee pension or welfare benefit plan subject to the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974

(ERISA) codified at 29 U.S.C. §§ 1001–1461. For a discussion on criminal liability associated with

whistleblower protections, see the Securities Fraud article in this Issue.

2. Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSHA), 29 U.S.C. §§ 651–678.

3. Federal Mine Safety and Health Act (FMSHA), 30 U.S.C. §§ 801–966.

4. Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), 29 U.S.C. §§ 201–219.

5. Labor Management Relations (Taft-Hartley) Act § 302, 29 U.S.C. § 186.

6. Labor-Management Reporting and Disclosure Act (LMRDA), 29 U.S.C. § 501(c).

668 AMERICAN CRIMINAL LAW REVIEW [Vol. 59:667

II. WORKER SAFETY

This section discusses the OSHA

7

and the FMSHA,

8

which create criminal

liability for violators under certain circumstances. Part A analyzes the OSHA, its

enforcement, and the applicable penalties for offenses.

9

Part B discusses the

FMSHA, including the elements of the offenses.

10

A. Occupational Safety and Health Act

Congress enacted the OSHA to ensure healthy and safe working conditions.

11

To fulfill this purpose, the OSHA imposes two duties on employers: the general

duty and the special duty.

12

The general duty, a catchall duty, requires employers

to provide employees with safe employment and a safe place of employment.

13

The special duty requires employers to “comply with occupational safety and

health standards promulgated under this [Act].”

14

OSHA provides for criminal sanctions

15

in three situations: (1) when an employ-

er’s willful violation of an OSHA standard, rule, order, or regulation causes the

death of an employee;

16

(2) when any person gives advance notice of an OSHA

inspection;

17

and (3) when a person makes a false statement or representation

7. 29 U.S.C. §§ 651–678.

8. 30 U.S.C. §§ 801–966.

9. See 29 U.S.C. §§ 651–678.

10. See 30 U.S.C. §§ 801–966.

11. 29 U.S.C. §§ 651–678. The Act states: “Congress finds that personal injuries and illnesses arising out of

work situations impose a substantial burden upon . . . commerce . . . .” § 651(a); see also S. REP. NO. 91-1282, at

5177 (1970) (stating that the purpose of OSHA is to assure safe and healthful working conditions); cf. Indus.

Union Dep’t, AFL-CIO v. Am. Petroleum Inst., 448 U.S. 607, 646 (1980) (noting that the legislative history of

OSHA “supports the conclusion that Congress was concerned, not with absolute safety, but with the elimination

of significant harm.”).

12. See 29 U.S.C. § 654(a).

13. See 29 U.S.C. § 654(a)(1) (“Each employer [] shall furnish to each of his employees employment and a

place of employment which are free from recognized hazards that are causing or are likely to cause death or

serious physical harm to his employees.”); Ramsey Winch, Inc. v. Henry, 555 F.3d 1199, 1205 (10th Cir. 2009)

(citation omitted) (noting Congress’s intent in enacting the general duty clause was to protect employees working

under “special circumstances for which no standard has yet been adopted”); Fabi Constr. Co. v. Sec’y of Lab.,

508 F.3d 1077, 1081 (D.C. Cir. 2007) (interpreting the general duty clause to impose a “reasonably prudent

employer” standard where an individual in that industry would have recognized and protected against the

hazard); Reich v. Arcadian Corp., 110 F.3d 1192, 1196 (5th Cir. 1997) (stating that, absent specific regulations,

the general duty clause acts as “catchall provision”).

14. 29 U.S.C. § 654(a)(2). Additionally, compliance with specific standards may not excuse an employer from

obligations of the general duty clause. See Safeway, Inc. v. OSHRC, 382 F.3d 1189, 1194–95 (10th Cir. 2004)

(holding that the OSHA indicates an employer’s duty to provide a safe working environment extends beyond

compliance with specific standards included in regulations promulgated under the Act).

15. For any violation, an employer may be subject to civil fines as well as criminal liability. See S.A. Healy

Co. v. OSHRC, 138 F.3d 686, 688 (7th Cir. 1998) (holding it is not a violation of the Double Jeopardy Clause to

criminally prosecute an individual for an OSHA violation after imposing civil monetary penalties on him for the

same violation).

16. 29 U.S.C. § 666(e).

17. Id. § 666(f).

2022] EMPLOYMENT LAW VIOLATIONS 669