Acosta v. Lloyd Indus., Inc.

291 F. Supp. 3d 647
CourtDistrict Court, E.D. Pennsylvania
DecidedDecember 5, 2017
DocketCIVIL ACTION No. 16–1079
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 291 F. Supp. 3d 647 (Acosta v. Lloyd Indus., Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, E.D. Pennsylvania primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Acosta v. Lloyd Indus., Inc., 291 F. Supp. 3d 647 (E.D. Pa. 2017).

Opinion

Goldberg, J.

The Secretary of the Department of Labor, R. Alexander Acosta, brings this action on behalf of two discharged employees against their employer, Defendants Lloyd Industries Inc. ("Lloyd Industries") and William P. Lloyd ("Mr. Lloyd"), alleging violations of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration Act (the "OSH Act"), 29 U.S.C. § 660(c).

According to the Secretary, Matthew Spillane and Santa "Dino" Sanna were wrongfully terminated in retaliation for assisting the Occupational Safety and Health Administration ("OSHA") in identifying safety hazards at Lloyd Industries. The Secretary relies upon Section 11(c) of the OSH Act, which prohibits the discharge of employees because they file complaints or otherwise exercise rights afforded by the Act, including informing OSHA about unsafe conditions.

The Secretary brings one claim of retaliation in violation of the OSH Act. Defendants have moved for summary judgment. As genuine issues of material fact exist, Defendants' motion will be denied.

I. FACTUAL RECORD

The issue before me is whether material undisputed facts exist to establish that Defendants'

*650termination of Mr. Spillane and Mr. Sanna was non-retaliatory. The Secretary asserts that Mr. Spillane was fired because he took and shared photographs of a machine that caused an injury to a co-worker, leading to an OSHA complaint. The Secretary further posits that Mr. Sanna was fired because of his relationship to an employee who filed a complaint with OSHA and for testifying at an OSHA hearing. Defendants counter that the material undisputed facts establish that Mr. Spillane was terminated because he was sleeping on the job, and Mr. Sanna was terminated because his disregard for his duties to oversee OSHA compliance resulted in OSHA citations. Not surprisingly, these vastly divergent versions of events are supported by differing and disputed facts.

The parties agree on only the following facts:

- Lloyd Industries is a small business manufacturing a variety of fire and smoke dampers, a product designed to stop the spread of fires. Founded by its owner and president, Mr. Lloyd, the company employs almost 100 individuals in two plant locations-one in Florida and one in Montgomeryville, Pennsylvania, which is the focus of the lawsuit before me. (Defs.' Statement of Material Facts ("SOF") ¶¶ 1-3; Pl.'s Statement of Material Facts ("SOF") ¶¶ 1-3.)
- On July 11, 2014, Joshua Elbode ("Mr. Elbode"), an employee of Lloyd Industries, suffered a partial amputation of three fingers on his right hand while using a press brake machine. In late October 2014, three months after the injury, Mr. Elbode filed a complaint with OSHA. As a result, OSHA initiated an inspection of the plant, and Compliance Safety and Health Officers arrived on November 13, 2014. (Defs.' SOF ¶¶ 28-29, 31, 33-34; Defs.' Mot., Ex. 1, 27:19-28:6, 30:7-8, 34:8-24, 139:3-7, 143:6-14, 2003:17-2007:23; Id., Ex. 6; Pl.'s SOF ¶¶ 28-29, 31, 33-34.)
- Mr. Spillane, one of the fired employees, joined Lloyd Industries in May 2014. He worked with Mr. Elbode in the Access Door Department as a laborer. Following Mr. Elbode's accident, Mr. Spillane took photographs of the worksite from July 2014 through August 2014 and, at the request of Mr. Elbode's attorney, provided them to Mr. Elbode to assist with his worker's compensation matter. Rene Santos, another employee at Lloyd Industries, informed Mr. Lloyd that he saw Mr. Spillane taking these photographs. The parties also agree that Mr. Lloyd gave Mr. Spillane Phillies tickets despite learning about the photographs. (Defs.' SOF ¶¶ 35-40; Compl. ¶¶ 12, 16; Ans. ¶ 12; Defs.' Mot., Ex. 1, 1072:3-1073:19; Id., Ex. 7, 11:21-12:5; Id., Ex. 9; Id., Ex. 10, 65:23-68:11; Pl.'s SOF ¶¶ 35-40.)
- Mr. Lloyd terminated Mr. Spillane on November 18, 2014. (Defs.' SOF ¶ 52; Compl. ¶ 23; Ans. ¶ 23; Pl.'s SOF ¶ 52.)
- Mr. Sanna, another terminated employee of Lloyd Industries, is Mr. Elbode's grandfather and was hired in 2008 to work as the Montgomeryville plant manager. Mr. Sanna provided testimony to OSHA in February 2015.2 (Defs.' SOF ¶¶ 23, 28; Compl. ¶ 30; Ans. ¶ 30; Pl.'s SOF ¶¶ 23, 28.)
*651- On May 11, 2015, OSHA issued numerous citations against Lloyd Industries and proposed penalties in the amount of $822,000. OSHA issued six alleged violations of 29 C.F.R. § 1910.212(a)(3)(ii), which requires the point of operation machinery to be guarded, and three alleged violations of 29 C.F.R. § 1910.95(g)(6), which requires that employees exposed to noise over 85 dBA for an eight-hour time weighted average receive annual audiometric tests. (Defs.' SOF ¶¶ 59, 61-62; Defs.' Mot., Exs. 18-19; Pl.'s SOF ¶¶ 59, 61-62.)
- On May 11, 2015, after screaming in frustration because of the OSHA citations, Mr. Lloyd fired Mr. Sanna. Mr. Lloyd testified that if the company received an $822,000 fine, "somebody gets fired." (Defs.' SOF ¶¶ 68-69; Defs.' Mot., Ex. 11, 146:18-147:4; Id., Ex. 20, 298:14-301:13; Pl.'s SOF ¶¶ 68-69.)
- Following their terminations, Mr. Spillane and Mr. Sanna both filed complaints alleging that Lloyd Industries retaliated against them in violation of the OSH Act. Upon receiving notification of Mr. Spillane's complaint, Lloyd Industries informed OSHA that it terminated Mr. Spillane because "[s]everal employees notified [Mr. Lloyd] that Mr.

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291 F. Supp. 3d 647, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/acosta-v-lloyd-indus-inc-paed-2017.