Unpreventable Employee Misconduct: Defending Your Company when there is No Defense to the Conduct

What if one or your workers – who should and does know better – violates an OSHA standard?  Shouldn’t an employer be able to defend itself from the violation even when there is no dispute that the underlying conduct occurred? The answer is yes, provided the four elements of the “unpreventable employee misconduct” defense are met. Unpreventable employee misconduct, an affirmative defense, is often raised by employers in OSHA enforcement actions. Thus, while OSHA bears the burden of proving a violation, the employer bears the…
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