A federal jury has ruled that a Montgomeryville company wrongfully fired two employees.
In a statement put out on Apr. 17, the U.S. Department of Labor announced that a jury in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania ruled that Lloyd Industries Inc., located along the 200-block of Commerce Drive, unlawfully terminated two employees because of their involvement in a safety investigation.
The investigation was considered a protected activity under Section 11(c) of the Occupational Safety and Health Act.
"The jury agreed that the timing of these terminations was no mere coincidence and supported the workers' legal right to a safe and healthy workplace," said Regional Philadelphia Solicitor Oscar L. Hampton III, in the statement.
The verdict follows a lawsuit that was filed in March 2016. On July 11, 2014, a worker at Lloyd Industries' Montgomeryville plant suffered the amputation of three fingers after a machine without safety guards crushed his hand. The company, a leading manufacturer of fire dampers and HVAC products, fired him immediately after the incident.
Four months later, OSHA received a safety complaint from the injured employee and the agency opened an inspection. On Nov. 18, 2014, five days after it began, company owner William P. Lloyd fired a worker he suspected to be a "rat" who had assisted the injured employee by providing him with pictures of the unguarded machine.
In the trial’s second phase, the court will determine damages.
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