3 supervisors fired for raising awareness about TB exposure
When a Hartford health care facility failed to adequately respond to a tuberculosisexposure in December 2011, its interim senior vice-president for operations, director of nursing and its coordinator of its Healthy Start program actively tried or were associated with efforts to raise awareness among fellow employees, management and the public about the potential dangers. Among other things, they cooperated with public and workplace health agencies that investigated.
Two months later – on Feb. 24, 2012 – Charter Oak Health Center and its then-chief executive officer, Alfreda D. Turner, terminated the three employees. A subsequent whistleblower investigation by OSHA found that the terminations were unwarranted as the employees’ actions were protected under the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970.