Former bus company owner ordered to pay $11K for retaliation against employee who complained

The former owner of a tour bus company in Colorado has been ordered to pay $11,000 to a former employee who was fired after refusing to drive an unsafe bus, according to the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration.

OSHA’s Whistleblower Protection Program said it found reasonable cause to believe that John Georgis, the previous owner of Banjo Bill's Bus Tours, retaliated against the employee.

The $11,000 includes back wages, interest and punitive damages.

"The company must also expunge the former employee’s work records of any reference to their termination," the Department of Labor said in a statement sent to Denver7. "Banjo Billy’s Bus Tours is currently under new ownership."

“Employees should be free to exercise their rights under the law without fear of termination or retaliation by their employers,” said Gregory Baxter, OSHA’s Regional Administrator in Region 8 in Denver. “This lawsuit underscores the department’s commitment to vigorously take action to protect workers’ rights.”

Banjo Billy’s Bus Tours, or Georgis, may appeal within 30 days.