Video: Employee Rights and the Food Safety Modernization Act
February 11, 2011
In February 2011, FIC coproduced a groundbreaking conference addressed the changing legal landscape of employee rights resulting from the passage of the historic Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA). Among other monumental reforms, the Act establishes whistleblower protections for employees of entities involved in the manufacturing, processing, packing, transporting, distribution, holding, or importation of food who provide information relating to FDA violations. In addition to FSMA, conference panels and workshops addressed food issues as varied as food importation, farmworkers’ rights, and whistleblower experiences.
Click any link below to watch the corresponding video of that panel!
Opening Keynote: GAP President Louis Clark Introduces Food Safety Litigator Bill Marler 
Food safety litigator Bill Marler talks about the lack of justice for foodborne illness victims and the fact that people who knowingly send out contaminated food have yet to face criminal charges.
Panelists explore the improvements provided by FSMA, as well as other over-arching food trends that remain of concern, such as the global supply chain and the consolidation of power within the food industry.
Panel 2: FSMA Whistleblower Provision -- A legal tool to secure public health
Panelists analyzed the public health benefits to be gained from FSMA's new whistleblower provision, which has the potential to cover masses of would-be whistleblowers working in FDA-regulated food industries – from soil to plate.
Luncheon Keynote: Paul Igasaki, Chief Judge, Administrative Review Board
Paul Igasaki discusses the nature of whistleblower cases at the Department of Labor's Administrative Review Board.
Expert whistleblower litigators discuss the elements of a food whistleblower claim and how to successfully file a retaliation complaint.
Media Activism Workshop
Panelists share insight on creative applications of media in the push for positive change in our food system. Whether petitioning Congress online to improve whistleblower rights or mobilizing support for farmworkers through YouTube, a lot is going on to utilize the web and various media to spark change.
Panel 3: Are We There Yet?: Next steps for improving whistleblower and food safety
Panelists discuss areas in which whistleblower rights can be implemented or improved in order to better protect worker and public health, including the glaring absence of a comparable USDA whistleblower provision, unequal protection for migrant workers, and the lack of adequate whistleblower protections for government food safety employees.
You can also check out the live discussion that took place online during the event.
With this successful event, FIC is planning more conferences and webinars in the future. To keep abreast of any future announcements, please consider signing up to receive FIC news by entering your email address at the top of the page!
