If a coworker is injured or killed and his/her attorney or investigator asks you for a witness statement regarding the facts, you are protected. You are even protected if you give photos. A special law gives coworkers protection from employer retaliation for voluntarily giving information concerning a coworkers case. It is a Federal crime for an employer to so retaliate. I have gone to court to stop such retaliation. The general maritime law, also, give employees protection from such retaliation. So, if you have information concerning a coworker’s case, don’t hesitate to give it. Next time, the one who needs the statement may be you or your lawyer. The remedies provided under the law can result from loss of wages, to forced reemployment, to the costs of obtaining alternative employment, plus fines. For these reasons it is generally rare for an employer to retaliate against a fellow employee for providing information.
This law has also been used to stop employer hearings against an injured employee as it relates to how an accident happened. Employers have tried to do this in order to interrogate an employee without the presence of his Jones Act lawyers to protect his rights.
The best way to handle these types of situations is to just give the statement to the coworkers maritime lawyer if you feel like it. Remember that if company lawyers or officials tell you not to talk to an injured employee’s lawyer that in telling you that, THEY are breaking the law.
