The Labor Department has filed suit against a Georgia-based multistate roofing contractor and its owner for allegedly firing an employee after he cooperated in a federal workplace inspection.

Jasper Roofing Contractors Inc. and owner/CEO Brian Wedding are accused of discriminating against the safety manager by conducting retaliatory acts, ultimately resulting in termination, after he provided documentation to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration regarding the company’s safety compliance. The worker was also attempting to improve the safety culture at the roofing company, the Labor Department said in a release.

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Fall protection tops OSHA's list of the most frequently cited violations.

The agency does not release names of whistleblowers. A local ABC News affiliate reports that the company's safety manager had worked for the company just four months in 2014 and 2015.

Discrimination Charged

The case, filed Dec. 28, in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida, claims Wedding and his company were in violation of Section 11(c) of the Occupational Safety and Health Act.

The company did not respond Wednesday (Jan. 11) to a request for comment.

Founded in 2004, the company is based in Kennesaw, Georgia, and has branches located in Atlanta, Evansville, Fort Myers, Jacksonville, Orlando and Tampa. Its parent company, Wedding Holdings, has subsidiaries in the commercial real estate, food service and automotive industries.

The suit seeks back wages, interest, compensatory damages, as well as injunctive relief, according to the agency. The case also seeks to have the employee’s personnel records expunged with respect to the matters at issue in the case and to bar Jasper Roofing Contractors against future violations of the OSH Act.

"Employees have the right to participate in an Occupational Safety and Health inspection without the fear of retaliation," said Kurt Petermeyer, OSHA's regional administrator in Atlanta. "OSHA will continue to hold companies accountable that violate the whistleblower provisions of the OSH Act."

First Coast News reports that the safety manager was called to the jobsite while a safety inspection was underway and  allowed other employees to be interviewed by OSHA representatives. Two weeks later, the manager was fired, the report said.

Whistleblower Protection

OSHA enforces the whistleblower provisions of the Occupational Safety and Health Act and 21 other statutes protecting employees who report violations of various airline, commercial motor carrier, nuclear, pipeline, public transportation agency, maritime and other laws.

Under these laws, employers are prohibited from retaliating against employees who raise protected concerns or provide protected information to the employer or government. Employees who believe they have been retaliated against for engaging in protected conduct may file a complaint for an investigation by OSHA's Whistleblower Protection Program.

History of Citations

Jasper Contractors has been cited 13 times since 2012, according to a review of OSHA’s database.

Those citations stem from inspections in multiple states. Some of the cases have been closed, with reductions in fines.

Fall-protection hazards were the leading source of the citations.