Top outsourcing firms deluge the federal government with applications for H-1B visas, sidelining smaller American employers, according to The New York Times. This echoes findings of our investigation last year, which found that labor brokers had exploited Indian tech workers at some of America’s top companies.
Workers’ Rights
In the ceaseless push for profits, corporate accountability and safety often take a back seat.
California surgeon accused of leading $150 million insurance scam
In a case the Los Angeles district attorney’s office is calling one of the largest insurance scams in the state, an orthopedic surgeon is accused of deceiving patients into having surgery by an unqualified assistant and undergoing procedures they didn’t need.
North Dakota lawmakers are crafting bills to improve oil worker safety
North Dakota state Rep. Joshua Boschee and state Sen. George Sinner announced plans for legislation that would enact tougher workplace safety standards and hold major oil companies accountable for oil field worker injuries and deaths.
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In 2 states, sexual assault laws lag far behind the mainstream
Mississippi is one of two states, along with Idaho, that doesn’t have criminal laws that clearly forbid unwanted sexual touching such as groping and fondling.
Spate of oil field deaths prompts new study of workplace hazards
The oil boom in North Dakota and elsewhere has claimed the lives of dozens of workers. In response, the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health said it plans to survey 500 oil field employees starting next year in an effort to improve safety.
Hell of a job
In Reveal’s July episode, we examine the hidden problem of sexual assault of female janitors on the night shift; explore the legacy of toxic chemicals used in electronics manufacturing, both here and in Asia; and take to the fields to explore why it was so hard to ban a tool that was injuring agricultural workers.
The long tale of the short-handled hoe
A historic battle over workers’ rights in California started over a simple tool: the short-handled hoe. Known as a “cortito” in Spanish, this short hoe became a symbol of cruelty, oppression and literally back-breaking labor until a lawyer in the early 1970s was able to bring the issue to the state Supreme Court.
Toxic tech in America
In 1975, when she was 18, Yvette Flores got a job assembling parts for some of the first supermarket checkout scanners. It took 30 years before she connected her daily chemical exposure at the Silicon Valley manufacturing plant to her son’s severe disabilities.
Disposable workers in Asia
Since the 1980s, the electronics industry largely has moved overseas in search of cheaper labor. Reporter Sandra Bartlett went to South Korea to learn more about a movement that has sprung up to investigate the illnesses and deaths of factory employees at Samsung, one of the largest electronics companies in the world.
OSHA to take hard look at ‘big oil’ in the Bakken
Following a Reveal investigation into worker deaths and injuries in the Bakken oil fields, a top federal workplace safety regulator in North Dakota announced plans for a tougher enforcement strategy intended to hold major energy companies accountable for workplace accidents.