A longtime General Motors repairperson has filed a GM whistleblower lawsuit against the company, alleging retaliation for blowing the whistle on safety problems.

The plaintiff, Richard B., began his work at General Motors in September 1999 and continued until May 2016, performing vehicle assembly work.

In 2015, Richard began reporting to management that certain procedures and defects were being covered up without first being fixed and properly recorded.

For instance, in August 2015, the plaintiff brought a safety concern over motor vehicle storage to the local plant management’s attention.  The request noted his concerns and requested that proper procedures be followed.

However, this request was mostly ignored. As a result, GM continued to use a bake oven to store vehicle parts, allegedly against regulation.

Tired of his complaints of defects and safety regulations being ignored, the plaintiff contacted a source called AwareLine, through which he could report illegal or ethically questionable activity at the company.

He used this source to report the unsafe storage practices that placed vehicle parts in an unused bake oven at his place of work.

According to the GM whistleblower lawsuit, auditors came to the factory just after his complaint, but GM hid the stored vehicle parts by closing the bake oven’s door.

Shortly thereafter, Richard alleges he began experiencing discrimination and retaliation in his workplace. For instance, his work area was vandalized, allegedly as a result of his reports about the storage of vehicle parts in the oven.

He also began experiencing targeted harassment as a result of his report. Vandalism of his workplace continued—including the word “RAT” being written over his equipment.

Richard also began reporting instances of fraud where he discovered unfixed parts that were reported as fixed. In one such case, a broken plug marked as having been fixed could have led to serious danger for the customer who would end up driving a vehicle they believed to have been fixed.

At one point, the workplace harassment had escalated to a death threat. In March 2016, Richard found a rubber rat hanging from a noose at his work station, which he immediately reported.

This not only sparked concern for the plant’s safety and security, but caused severe anxiety that led to medical treatment.

Throughout his time working as a repairman in 2015 and 2016, even while experiencing harassment, Richard continued to report unfixed problems, defects, safety hazards, and retaliation issues.

In March 2016, the GM whistleblower lawsuit notes that he was placed on disciplinary notice without any reason given. He was soon hit with a disciplinary interview and a suspension of three days.

A GM corporate investigator with whom the plaintiff had been communicating about these issues for months, Nicholas Gruber, opened a case regarding the alleged retaliation in April 2016.

While these problems continued at work, the plaintiff was also suffering from severe anxiety and distress as a result, requiring a visit to his doctor and three weeks of sick leave.

The GM whistleblower lawsuit notes that the plaintiff was suffering from a variety of physical problems from stress, including migraines, gastrointestinal distress, insomnia, and diarrhea.

Though Richard attempted to return to work in May, a boss immediately fired him for allegedly “creating a hostile work environment.”

The plaintiff filed complaints with the Occupational Safety & Health Administration and the Department of Labor over discriminatory or retaliatory actions by General Motors after the plaintiff blew the whistle on these safety defects.

Richard also filed a GM whistleblower lawsuit, alleging discrimination and retaliation and wrongful termination in violation of public policy under Missouri law.

If you believe that your current or former employer is acting against regulation, you may be able to call attention to this problem by filing a lawsuit like this GM whistleblower lawsuit.

The GM Whistleblower Lawsuit is Case No. 4:16-cv-01884 in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri, Eastern Division.