Employee’s internal complaints constitute protected activity under VOSHA

In a Vermont Occupational Safety and Health Act (VOSHA) retaliation case, the U.S. District Court of Vermont ruled in favor of an employee and denied their former employer’s request for dismissal of the claim. This is a stark reminder for Vermont employers that internal concerns raised by an employee are sufficient to constitute protected activity under VOSHA, and therefore, employers must take steps to ensure there are no adverse or negative actions taken against complaining employees.

Facts

Krishna Gathani was a medical resident in the Podiatry Residency Program at Southwestern Vermont Medical Center (SVMC). William Sarchino was the Director of that program, as well as the Acting Head of the Residency Training Committee.

He also had a private medical practice, where Gathani occasionally worked. As claimed by Gathani, throughout his time in the program, he was verbally attacked by Sarchino on multiple occasions, and forced to perform tasks outside his expected work duties, including treating patients at an organization that wasn’t affiliated with SVMC. He also alleges that he was forced to take X-rays without proper protections at Sarchino’s private practice.

Gathani contends that he raised his concerns about Sarchino’s behavior in a monthly residency meeting. In addition, Gathani claims he complained internally about Sarchino to the Assistant Director of the Podiatry Residency Program, the Residency Coordinator for the Podiatry Residency Program, as well as the Vice President of Human Resources at SVMC.