New study confirms overwhelming support for LGBT workplace protections
Results from the 2010 Out & Equal Workplace Survey show this week that 78 percent of heterosexual adults agree that employees should be evaluated for their job performance, not their sexual orientation. In addition, 62 percent support providing equal benefits for all employees’ partners or spouses.
http://www.todaysworkplace.org/2011/10/27/new-study-confirms-overwhelming-support-for-lgbt-workplace-protections/
Paid sick days: restaurant lobby fights new laws for workers
Voters in Denver, Colo., will head to the polls next week to decide whether or not the city’s employers should be required to give workers paid sick days. Among the first of its kind in the country, the contentious ballot initiative has attracted plenty of attention from restaurant owners outside of Colorado — and plenty of money, too.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/10/26/paid-sick-days-restaurant_n_1031661.html?ncid=edlinkusaolp00000008
Defense contractor disputes findings on cancer-causing chemical
National defense contractor Kellogg, Brown & Root disputes some of the findings in a government report that faulted it for failing to properly safeguard Americans from exposure to a cancer-causing chemical. The report, by the U.S. Department of Defense’s Office of the Inspector General, blamed KBR and U.S. military officials for failing to comply with and enforce workplace safety standards as Americans – including 122 members of the West Virginia National Guard – were exposed to a cancer-causing chemical in Iraq in 2003.
http://www.dailymail.com/News/NationandWorld/201110260246
Hilton Reservations Worldwide employees to receive more than $715,000 in minimum, overtime back wages following US Labor Department investigation
Hilton Reservations Worldwide LLC, doing business as Hilton Reservations and Customer Care in Carrollton, has agreed to pay $715,507 in minimum and overtime back wages to 2,645 current and former customer service employees following an investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division that found violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act.
http://www.industryleadersmagazine.com/workplace-health-promotion-program-launches-at-westin-properties-worldwide/
Cal/OSHA: Brothers’ deaths were totally preventable
Appearing before the Kern County Board of Supervisors Tuesday at its request, California Division of Occupational Safety and Health Chief Ellen Widess gave an update on an investigation into the death of two brothers killed at Community Recycling & Resource Recovery Inc. in Lamont. She said the deaths should never have happened.
http://www.bakersfieldnow.com/news/local/132598308.html
Worker accuses Brightpoint of religious discrimination
An Indiana woman is filing an EEOC complaint against her employer after she said she was discriminated against for wearing the Islamic headscarf. Mary Cabrera recently converted to Islam and began wearing the Islamic headscarf to work at Brightpoint’s distribution center in Plainfield. She said staff asked her to take it off, because it was not a part of her uniform, but she refused.
http://www.fox59.com/news/wxin-worker-accuses-brightpoint-of-religious-discrimination-20111025,0,6896025.column
OSHA proposes fines after Maine sewer tank deaths
Federal workplace safety officials are proposing nearly $17,000 in penalties after the death of two men working in a sewage tank. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration cited the employer for four safety violations, including failure to ventilate the area where the men were working and failing to test the air quality before and during the work. OSHA also said there was no system in place for an emergency rescue for the employees of Stevens Electric & Pump Service, a Monmouth company that was doing work at a Kennebunkport motel, the Lodge at Turbats Creek.
http://bangordailynews.com/2011/10/26/news/southern-coast/osha-proposes-fines-after-maine-sewer-tank-deaths/
Hilo tour company suspends zip line tours after last month’s fatal accident
A Hilo-based eco-tourism company says it has suspended booking zip line tours until the cause of a fatal accident is fully understood. Ted Callaway of Lahaina and a co-worker were in the process of testing a zip line north of Hilo last month when a tower collapsed and Callaway plunged 200 feet to his death. His co-worker Curtis Wright, of Miamisburg, Ohio, was critically injured.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/travel/hilo-tour-company-suspends-zip-line-tours-after-last-months-fatal-accident/2011/10/25/gIQAM7yCGM_story.html
3 fired in death of Monroe corrections officer
Three state prison officers have been fired and four others, including two lieutenants, have been disciplined for mistakes made before and after a corrections officer was killed at the Monroe Reformatory in January. Two of the fired officers lied to police and Department of Corrections (DOC) investigators, and a third was terminated for being away from his post outside the prison chapel, where officer Jayme Biendl worked alone, according to the DOC.
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2016617468_doc27m.html
