COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) -- A federal agency is suing a Columbia real estate management company, saying it fired an employee who reported concerns about asbestos at one of the company's worksites.
The U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration said Wednesday it sued CMM Realty Inc. for breaking federal law when it fired the employee.
OSHA says the employee was fired in May 2009 after filing complaints with that agency and with the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control over concerns about asbestos exposure at CMM's Briargate Condominiums.
OSHA officials say they want the court to reinstate the employee and pay him back wages.
A CMM official did not return a message Wednesday. The company is appealing OSHA's order that the company pay the whistleblower $56,000 in damages and wages.
(Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
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