The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) announced the start of a pilot in their Western region that will speed up the whistleblower review process. The program started August 1^st.

Under the new “Expedited Case Processing Pilot”, employees can ask the administration to halt their investigations into whistleblowing complaints and give their finding’s to the Office of Administrative Law Judges (ALJ) so that they can look at the case.

OSHA has said they understand their investigations can take a long time, and employees may be able to receive a faster judgement using the Office of Administrative Law Judges.

The case has to meet certain criteria to qualify for this expedited processing. The claim must be filed under a statute that allows for a fresh review from an ALJ, the whistleblower must have been interviewed by OSHA, the complaint must be evaluated to determine if the elements for a retaliation claim are there, both the complainant and the respondent must have had an opportunity to write responses and meet with OSHA to present their statements, and the complaint must have been filed at least 30 to 60 days earlier before the complainant can ask for an expedited review.

Once these criteria are met, OSHA will determine whether there is reasonable belief that a violation occurred. Then they can dismiss the claim from their judgment and let the whistleblower take it to an ALJ, or they can deny the request.

Administrative Law Judges can order the same recompenses as OSHA, they can order back pay, compensatory damages, punitive damages, reinstatement and attorney fees. The Western region includes Nevada, Arizona, California, Hawaii, American Samoa, Northern Mariana Islands and Guam.

“The ultimate goal is to bring about quicker resolution for whistleblowers and their employers regarding claims of retaliation for reporting safety and other concerns on the job,” said the OSHA regional administrator in San Francisco, Barbara Goto.