Carla reports a hand injury that she sustained while operating a saw after bypassing the guard on the saw, contrary to the emplo
yer's work rule. Carla’s hand injury required her to miss work for two days. Carla’s employer disciplined her for bypassing the guard contrary to its instructions. The employer regularly monitors its workforce for safety rule violations and disciplines employees who bypass machine guards regardless of whether they report injuries. Did the employer use a disciplinary program to retaliate against Carla for reporting a workplace injury?
No because if he already is very strict with disciplining all employees that bypass the guard contrary to instructions than he is simply just doing his job.
The employer used a disciplinary program to inform Carla and other employees about the safety standards required by the company and to monitor whether these standards are being followed by employees, but he did not use the disciplinary program to retaliate for Carla. The retaliation was triggered by Carla herself for not meeting safety standards and still getting hurt by it, harming herself and her work, even if her employer gave all the necessary guidelines so she wouldn't get hurt.
