Statute of Limitations: Five Years or Six Months?

Statute of Limitations: Five Years or Six Months?

The National Law Journal reports that the business community is watching a potentially precedent-setting case that could sharply curtail the period of time that companies can be cited for Occupational Safety and Health reporting violations.

The issue is “of serious consequence to small businesses of all industries,” according to an amicus brief from the National Federation of Independent Business Legal Foundation, which complains that companies are subject to stiff fines for such violations and find it difficult to defend five-year old charges.

Signaling a potential change in agency policy, the OSH Review Commission last week heard oral arguments on the matter, the first time it has held oral arguments in four years. At issue: Can employers be cited by OSHA for record-keeping violations that occurred up to five years in the past — the current agency practice — or is the statute of limitations strictly six months?

In this case OSHA issued citations alleging the company violated several recordkeeping regulations — specifically, that the company failed to record on its injury log a number of injuries and illnesses within the required seven-day period. The earliest such recordable injury or illness occurred on Jan. 11, 2002 — more than four years before the citations.

National Federation of Independent Business Legal Foundation wrote in their amicus brief that this places an unfair burden on employers.

“The sixth-month limit was not included by Congress so that employers could get away with violations,” they wrote. ”Rather, Congress understood the burden of mounting a defense once a claim has become stale. An employer’s ability to tell its story dissipates sharply as time passes, particularly when it comes to subtle details.”

A decision is expected in April 2011. ◆