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16 | January 2024
Slippery Rock Gazette
OSHA Seeks to Add Union Reps to Inspections
ID by Undies
Apair of multicolored briefs peeking out above a robbery suspect’s low-slung trousers helped police arrest him more than a year later, federal authorities in New York said in December.
The robbery happened at a tobacco shop in Queens on Sept. 14, 2022. Three masked men got out of a Mazda and entered the store, according to a complaint filed in federal court last week.
Two of the men pointed guns at employees and
customers while the third emptied the cash register and grabbed merchandise and employees’ cellphones, the complaint said. The robbers fled in the Mazda.
Surveillance videos that were disseminated through the media showed the third robber wearing brightly colored briefs with a large letter R in white and the year 1990 in yellow.
An anonymous tipster passed along the Instagram handle of the suspect with the colorful underwear, the complaint said. The caller also told police that the robbers had tried to sell their stolen merchandise at another Queens location.
Detectives reviewed video footage from the sale
location and spotted the man with the colorful under- wear, now easily identifiable because he was no lon- ger wearing a mask, the complaint said.
Police identified the suspect based on his Instagram account, the video from the merchandise sale spot and photos from prior arrests, according to the complaint.
The 30-year-old suspect was arrested on a Wednesday morning at his home in Queens by mem- bers of a New York Police Department-Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms joint task force. He was awaiting arraignment in federal court in Brooklyn, a spokesperson for the U.S. Attorney’s office said. The other two robbery suspects are still at large.
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What should be of special interest to employers is that the MOU envisions opportunities for the NLRB and OSHA to conduct coordinated investigations and inspections “in appropriate cases and to the extent allowable under law.” In cases where there are overlapping statu- tory violations at issue, the agencies agree to “explore and confer” regarding what enforcement actions are appropriate for each agency to undertake.
The MOU also does not provide for or require notice to an employer or other providing party when the information is shared, point out attorneys for the Littler Mendelson law firm. “Employers should assume that information provided to one agency is provided to the other.”
The agreement also describes in detail how each agency will provide reciprocal training and education to appropriate per- sonnel from the other agency. For exam- ple, the NLRB will train OSHA personnel on what constitutes protected concerted activity by employees and what is consid- ered an unfair labor practice (ULP) under federal labor law.
In turn, OSHA will train NLRB per- sonnel on OSHA standards, recordkeep- ing and reporting regulations, the general duty clause, and employee rights under the OSH Act. Under the MOU, the agencies will also engage in joint public engage- ment, outreach and education in person and on social media regarding the laws that each agency enforces.
Although state OSHA plan agencies are not directly impacted by the terms of the MOU, the agreement suggests that they are expected to respond to referrals from the NLRB concerning potential violations of state OSHA plan regulations and will be encouraged to participate in the training and information-sharing activities devel- oped and agreed to by the agencies.
“Perfect freedom is as necessary to the health and vigor of commerce as it is to the health and vigor of citizenship.” – Patrick Henry