Board finds 'express bias' in firing of Iowa OSHA inspector

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — A review board has overturned the firing of an Iowa workplace safety inspector, finding that he unfairly faced retribution after reporting a hostile work environment inside the agency.

Managers at the Iowa Occupational Safety and Health Administration acted with “express bias” when they opened a disciplinary investigation into Travis Stein for missing a meeting in November 2018, the Public Employment Relations Board found.

The agency had never before punished a worker for missing an all-staff meeting, which was a routine occurrence, and the investigation of Stein was unfair and incomplete, the board ruled.

Stein said Tuesday the ruling backs his claim that his January 2019 firing was motivated by retaliation and built on lies.

“I feel like the truth is out. It’s almost like redemption,” he said. “I'm happy in the fact that everything worked out in the end. But I'm sad that I had to deal with all of that mental, emotional, physical and financial stress. No one should have to deal with that."

Stein said that after he was fired, he was forced to sell the “dream home” he had purchased in Des Moines, where he had lived for nearly two decades. Last year, he moved away from his friends and family to take a job at the federal OSHA office in Kansas City.

The ruling ordered that Stein be reinstated with back pay and benefits. In practical terms, it means Stein will likely be owed pay for weeks of missed work before the federal agency hired him for a similar position.

Managers targeted Stein weeks after he cooperated with an investigation into allegations of retaliation, bullying and favoritism in their office. His supervisor, Deborah Babb, retired under pressure after the inquiry, which angered Babb and her allies, then-Commissioner of...