Shepherd’s Chapel Settles OSHA Lawsuit

Dennis Murray sermonizes in one of Shepherd Chapel's videos posted on YouTube.

A Gravette church that boasts of broadcasting daily on more than 150 TV stations in North America recently settled a whistleblower lawsuit for $62,500.

The suit stemmed from Facebook posts that complained about working conditions at the church.

The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety & Health Administration filed the lawsuit in January 2017 against Soldiers of the Cross, which you might know as Shepherd’s Chapel Church, and its pastor, Dennis Murray.

The DOL said in the lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court in Fayetteville, that the late Darrin Carnahan complained to his supervisor in September 2015 about working conditions in the church’s print shop. He alleged it had “poor ventilation that was making him sick and that the toner cartridges used in the print shop contained possible carcinogens,” the lawsuit said.

Carnahan said his supervisor took no action on his grievance.

Weeks later, Carnahan asked to speak to the church’s board about the work setting.

Instead, he met with his supervisor and Murray, who “claimed to accept” Carnahan’s resignation, even though he said he didn’t resign, the lawsuit said. Carnahan then filed a complaint with OSHA, alleging he was discriminated against for complaining about the conditions.

Carnahan’s wife, Kimberly, also worked at the church. In early January 2016, Murray learned of Darrin Carnahan’s Facebook posts in which he criticized the church for failing to respond to his complaints about unsafe conditions, the lawsuit said. Darrin Carnahan also alleged in the posts that he got cancer from working in the print shop.

Murray talked to Kimberly Carnahan about her husband’s social media activity. Murray allegedly told her, “You are biting the hand that feeds you.”

She denied doing anything wrong and said she was unaware of what her husband did. Still, Murray fired her, alleging insubordination, the lawsuit said. Kimberly Carnahan also filed a complaint with OSHA.

Darrin Carnahan died in November 2016 at the age of 54, months after Kimberly Carnahan left the church.

The DOL filed the lawsuit against the church and Murray. The action appears to be the first time that OSHA has said in a whistleblower lawsuit that Facebook posts complaining about work safety are protected by federal law, according to a January 2017 article in Bloomberg.

The church and Murray, without admitting they violated any provisions of OSHA, agreed to settle the case. Kimberly Carnahan will receive $32,500 for back wages and $30,000 for damages for emotional distress.

Attorney George Rozzell IV of the law firm Keith Miller Butler Schneider & Pawlik in Rogers, who represented the defendants, didn’t immediately return a call for comment Thursday afternoon. Murray also was unavailable for comment Thursday.