NY hair salon fired employee who warned others of formaldehyde threat

A receptionist wanted to make her
colleagues aware of health hazards
connected to hair salon products.

NEW YORK – All a receptionist at Salon Zoë hair salon wanted to do was make her fellow employees aware of health hazards associated with products containing formaldehyde that were regularly used by haircutters and stylists at the business in the Riverdale section of the Bronx.

Her employer responded by firing her.

As a result, the U.S. Department of Labor is suing the business and its owner, Kristina Veljovic, for discrimination, and seeking redress and compensation for the worker who exercised her rights under the Occupational Safety and Health Act.

"This firing was illegal and inexcusable," said Robert Kulick, regional administrator in New York for the Labor Department's Occupational Safety and Health Administration.

"It's against the law to fire or otherwise retaliate against an employee for informing colleagues about possible health hazards in their place of employment. Such behavior not only intimidates workers, it also can deny them access to knowledge that will protect them against workplace hazards."

The suit filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York says the worker began to experience respiratory distress in December 2011, including difficulty breathing and an impaired sense of smell. She sought medical attention on multiple occasions over the next several months.

During this period, she also told her employer that she believed the salon's hair-straightening products, which contain formaldehyde, were causing her health problems.

On June 27, 2012, she informed fellow employees of the presence of formaldehyde in the salon's products and provided several co-workers with copies of an OSHA fact sheet* detailing the dangers of formaldehyde exposure.

Two days later, Kristina Veljovic terminated her employment. In July 2012, a physician confirmed that the worker's respiratory distress resulted from her formaldehyde exposure at work.

She subsequently filed an anti-discrimination complaint with OSHA, which investigated and found merit to her complaint.

"No employee should be fired for raising awareness of a potential workplace health hazard," said Jeffrey Rogoff, the regional Solicitor of Labor in New York.

"Under the Occupational Safety and Health Act, the Labor Department has the authority to file suit against employers who retaliate against employees and it will do so when the case warrants. This is clearly one of those cases."

The department's lawsuit asks the court to affirm the discrimination charge and permanently prohibit the defendants from illegally retaliating against employees in the future.

It also seeks payment of lost wages as well as compensatory, punitive and emotional distress damages to the employee, an offer of reinstatement with full benefits and seniority and the removal of all references to the matter in the worker's employment records.

It would also require the employer to prominently post a notice that she will not discriminate against employees.

In a related action, OSHA's Tarrytown Area Office conducted an inspection of Salon Zoe and cited the company in December 2012 for lack of a chemical hazard communication program and for not providing the salon's employees with information and training on formaldehyde and other hazardous chemicals.

OSHA enforces the whistleblower* provisions of the OSH Act and 21 other statutes protecting employees who report violations of various airline, commercial motor carrier, consumer product, environmental, financial reform, food safety, health care reform, nuclear, pipeline, worker safety, public transportation agency, maritime and securities laws.

Employers are prohibited from retaliating against employees who raise various protected concerns or provide protected information to the employer or to the government.

Employees who believe that they have been retaliated against for engaging in protected conduct may file a complaint with the secretary of labor to request an investigation by OSHA's Whistleblower Protection Program. Detailed information on employee whistleblower rights, including fact sheets, is available here.

Under the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970, employers are responsible for providing safe and healthful workplaces for their employees. OSHA's role is to ensure these conditions for America's working men and women by setting and enforcing standards, and providing training, education and assistance.

Source: OSHA

Remove dangerous chemicals in salons and spas

Hair salons, beauty centers and spas often use products that can contain and emit harmful chemicals and fumes.

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These substances can affect worker health and well-being, especially after long-term exposure.

Electrocorp has designed a wide range of air cleaners for the hair styling and beauty industry, which help remove harmful fumes, chemicals, particles, odors and other contaminants from the ambient air.

Other air purifiers, such as Electrocorp's CleanBreeze3, comes with a source capture attachment that can be positioned close to the head where the treatment is being used and helps remove harmful chemicals such as formaldehyde before they spread.

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Measuring environmental pollution breath by breath

Environmental pollution is becoming a
growing health concern.

We reported a while back that researchers were developing a tool to measure toxins from breath to see what kinds of pollutants they were exposed to.

Now there is more information and more details available about the microelectromechanical systems that a group of researchers of the Virginia Tech College of Engineering is using to assess a person’s environmental exposure.

They published their findings in the research paper "The Possibilities Will Take Your Breath Away: Breath Analysis for Assessing Environmental Exposure," in the journal Environmental Science & Technology.

"Breathing reflects both what we inhale and what we metabolize," said professor Andrea Dietrich in a news release. "Toxins and non-toxins diffuse into the blood and then out of the body through breath."

The smell of fear and illness

Doctors have been smelling patients’ breath for centuries to determine an illness, and the body also produces chemicals and odor s when excited or fearful.

But many toxins can’t be detected by the ordinary nose, and that is where the new technologies shine.

The microelectromechanical systems mentioned above include hair-thin sorption devices that can detect even trace amounts of possible toxins in a person’s breath on the parts per billion or the micro-particle scale.

Subjects are asked to breathe into sterile plastic and then the scientists process the captured exhaled air through small sorption devices about the size of a penny.

Using these technologies can improve test results or make it easier to identify biomarkers, reduce time needed for analysis, sample volume and consumables such as solvents and reagents, the researchers say.

Environmental pollution a growing problem

Paint is a common source
of indoor air pollution.

Technologies like these are needed because people are exposed to larger amounts of environmental pollutants at home and at the workplace, including gaseous toxins coming from paints, carpeting, plastic-based flooring and other building materials and adhesives.

“The sources of some chemicals are well-known and extensively studied in the literature, while others simply appear in the complex chemical soup that surrounds us with no identified, or several potential, sources. Because they are present in a gaseous form, exposure is obligatory, as no one can refuse to breathe," the researchers wrote.

Analyzing breath seems like a great idea, but it does require further research.

For example, no one knows what “normal” breath is. Analysis can be hampered by water vapor in the breath, which can block sensors.

Source: Virginia Tech

Industrial-strength air cleaners to reduce environmental exposure

Since indoor air environments are typically contaminated with pollutants such as volatile organic compounds, gases, chemicals, odors, mold, bacteria, viruses, particles and allergens, a good air cleaner can help reduce exposure.

Electrocorp has designed a wide range of portable or ductable air filtration systems with activated carbon, HEPA and UV germicidal filtration to help keep the air clean.

You can find recommendations for certain industries and commercial applications our website, or go directly to

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Contact us: 866-667-0297