KNOXVILLE (WATE/AP) - The U.S. Department of Labor says a Knoxville-based trucking company will pay more than $31,000 in a settlement for firing an employee who complained about defective vehicles.
The department said Monday that Heartland Transportation Inc., a contract mail carrier for the U.S. Postal Service, will pay the complainant $31,200 including about $9,900 in back wages.
The department said the case grew out of a 2009 incident in which the employee was assigned to deliver a truckload of U.S. mail to Pontiac, Mich. A department news release said the worker had complained repeatedly about mechanical failures in the past. After being fired, he filed a whistleblower complaint to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration.
Heartland was ordered in November to reinstate the driver.
The department does not release the names of whistleblowers.
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