Our colleague, Alyson Palmer, noted on our Food Liability Law Blog that the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) published an interim final rule on February 13, 2014 creating the process for handling retaliation complaints brought by whistleblowers under Section 402 of the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA). Under the new rule, any employee who submits a complaint indicating a violation of FSMA or any FDA regulation or order is protected from any form of adverse employment action or harassment based in whole or in part on such a complaint. Businesses and employers within the food industry should strongly consider putting an adequate whistleblower protection policy in place, if they have not already done so. The interim final rule will be available for public comment until April 14, 2014.
