Calmat Company v. U.S. Department of Labor, Administrative Review Board Robert E. Germann
Opinion
Opinion
Fletcher, J.
CalMat Company (“CalMat”) petitions for review of a Final Decision and Order of the Department of Labor’s Administrative Review Board (ARB), holding that CalMat violated the whistleblower protection provision of the Surface Transportation Assistance Act (STAA), 49 U.S.C. §-31105, when it suspended Robert E. Germann without pay. We have jurisdiction under 49 U.S.C. § 31105 (c), and we deny the petition for review.
I. BACKGROUND
After working nearly twenty years for CalMat, Germann was elected the local union shop steward in 1996. On April 25, 1998, a fellow employee told Germann that three drivers had worked for more than fifteen hours the previous day, in violation of California and federal safety regulations. Germann checked the employees’ time cards and verified that each had worked for more than eighteen hours on April 24,1998.
Concerned for their safety, Germann spoke with all three employees to ensure that they knew that it is illegal to drive for more than fifteen hours in one day and to encourage them not to do so, even if pressured by supervisors. Germann’s discussions with one of these workers, Tony Contreras, became heated. Additionally, Germann contacted the…