Former DWP Employee Alleges Backlash Over Workplace Safety Remarks

Former DWP Employee Alleges Backlash Over Workplace Safety Remarks

by Contributing Editor

A Los Angeles Department of Water and Power heavy equipment operator is suing his ex-employer, alleging he was afraid to return to work because of a backlash he received after speaking out about workplace safety.

Plaintiff Scott Wilderman, 65, warned his supervisors about the allegedly unsafe use of a backhoe instead of an excavator at the Sylmar Converter Station project in 2019 that led to the death of one worker and left a second injured, according to his Los Angeles Superior Court lawsuit.

The complaint alleges wrongful termination, retaliation, hostile work environment and failure to prevent harassment and a hostile work environment. Wilderman seeks unspecified damages in the suit filed Tuesday.

Wilderman believes that the lawsuit will show that after his expression of safety concerns to his superiors at DWP, management “green lighted” him for harassment and retaliation by his superiors and co-workers, making it unsafe for him to return to work, the suit states.

A representative for the City Attorney’s Office could not be immediately reached.

Wilderman is a power shovel operator whose last assignment was in the Truesdale Yard, his suit states. He is a certified operator of cranes, excavators and other heavy construction equipment and was the most experienced operator at the DWP, having started operating 22 cranes while in the Navy over 40 years ago, the suit states.

Wilderman has operated cranes on nearly every major construction project in Los Angeles over the last four decades, the suit states. He has long been vocal about the proper use and safe operation of heavy equipment, according to his suit.

DWP supervisors have often has sent Wilderman to a job with the wrong machinery because they do not have sufficient experience operating heavy equipment and are “too insecure” to accept advice from experienced operators like the plaintiff, the suit states.

On May 6, 2019, one DWP worker was killed and another seriously injured when they were pinned against a wall by a backhoe at the Sylmar Converter Station project just 26 days after Wilderman and the excavator he operated left the job site, the suit states.

Wilderman alleges the accident was caused by a series of “reckless decisions” by his bosses at DWP despite his warnings and explanations as to the danger, the suit states. Wilderman warned that there was insufficient space to pile dirt from the excavation and he recommended that it be carried to a spoil pile across the street, but his objections were overruled and he was directed to pile the dirt on site, the suit states.

Wilderman then warned that the pile was too high and posed a danger of collapse in such a cramped space, but his warning was again ignored, the suit states. Wilderman was told that he was no longer needed at the job, according to the suit.

Wilderman advised his supervisors that a backhoe was too small to safely remove the pile that he created with the excavator, but the plaintiff was “run off” the job and a backhoe operator was brought in to remove the pile, the suit states.

Because of its insufficient size, the backhoe used during the fatal accident removed dirt from the bottom of the pile, creating an unstable wall of dirt, the suit states. Because the backhoe was in gear, it lunged forward and pinned the two workers against the wall of the confined space, according to the suit.

“(Wilderman) feels the weight of this tragedy that could have been prevented had the DWP heeded his warnings,” the suit states.

Two months later, after expressing his concerns about safety during a meeting, Wilderman was pushed from behind into a steel backhoe bucket by another DWP employee, the suit states. He suffered a concussion, broken finger and a sprained neck and was off work for 90 days, the suit states.

While at one of his first jobs after returning, Wilderman was blamed for a heavy excavator getting stuck in mud even though he warned his supervisors that the ground was too wet and unstable, the suit states. His bosses blamed him for the incident and he was taken off crane and excavator work and his overtime opportunities were cut, the suit states.

The DWP also imposed a six-day suspension that was allegedly related to the breaking of a window on an excavator two years earlier, the suit states.

Wilderman’s personal vehicle was repeatedly vandalized and the lights turned on to run down the battery while parked at work, the suit states. The engine failed after only 30,000 miles and Wilderman believes a substance was poured down the gas tank, destroying the engine, the suit states.

The DWP has rejected Wilderman’s request for reassignment and he believes it is unsafe for him to return to work, the suit states.

“It is apparent to plaintiff that defendants are attempting to set him up for termination,” the suit states.

Wilderman’s wife suffers from tremors because she worries she will lose her health care coverage if her husband loses his job, the suit states.

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All credit goes to Contributing Editor
Originally published on https://mynewsla.com