Iowa Code r. 875-9.1 - Complaints and proceedings under or related to the Iowa occupational safety and health Act
(1) Complaints
about occupational safety and health, if made in good faith, are related to the
Iowa occupational safety and health Act, Iowa Code chapter 88, hereinafter
referred to as the Act, and an employee is protected against discharge or
discrimination caused by a complaint to the employer.
(2) If an employee, with no reasonable
alternative, refuses in good faith to be exposed to a dangerous condition, the
employee is protected against subsequent discrimination if the following
conditions are met:
a. The condition causing
the employee's apprehension of death or injury must be of such a nature that a
reasonable person, under the circumstances then confronting the employee, would
conclude that there is a real danger of death or serious injury.
b. The employee, where possible, first sought
to:
(1) Eliminate the danger through resorting
to regular statutory enforcement channels unless there has been insufficient
time due to the urgency of the situation, or
(2) Obtain from the employer a correction of
the dangerous condition but was unable to do so.
(3) Discharge of, or discrimination against,
any employee because the employee "has testified or is about to testify" in
proceedings under or related to the Act extends to any statements given in the
course of judicial, quasi-judicial, and administrative proceedings, including
inspections, investigations, and administrative rulemaking or adjudicative
functions. If the employee is giving or is about to give testimony in any
proceeding under or related to the Act, the employee would be protected against
discrimination resulting from such testimony.
(4) An employee need not directly institute
the proceedings. It is sufficient if the employee sets into motion activities
of others that result in proceedings under or related to the Act.
(5) An employer's failure to pay employees
for time during which the employees are engaged in walkaround inspections or in
other inspection-related activities, such as responding to questions of
compliance officers or participating in the opening and closing conferences, is
discriminatory under Iowa Code section
88.9(3) so
long as neither the number of employees participating nor the time required to
express employee concerns is excessive.
(6) The employee's engagement in protected
activity need not be the sole consideration behind discharge or other adverse
action. If protected activity was a substantial reason for the action, or if
the discharge or other adverse action would not have taken place "but for"
engagement in protected activity, Iowa Code section
88.9(3) has
been violated.
(7) The prohibitions
of Iowa Code section 88.9(3) are
not limited to actions taken by employers against their own employees. A person
may be chargeable with discriminatory action against an employee of another
person. Iowa Code section
88.9(3) extends
to such entities as organizations representing employees for collective
bargaining purposes, employment agencies, or any other person in a position to
discriminate against an employee.
Notes
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