Supreme Court ruling affects OSHA’s statute of limitations
Citations must be for recent violations
A recent ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court means that employers “should not accept an OSHA citation alleging violations more than six months old,” according to two lawyers who specialize in occupational safety and health law.
James A. Lastowka and Arthur G. Sapper of McDermott Will & Emery LLP say that in Gabelli v. SEC, the court unanimously disapproved of the so-called discovery rule for postponing the running of a statute of limitations when a federal government agency seeks a civil penalty, and held that the limitations period begins to run once a violation occurs, and is not postponed until the agency discovers or reasonably should have discovered the violation.