Bench & Bar November/December 2025

ABOUT THE AUTHOR ANNIE HARB represents employers in all aspects of workplace law, from employment-related claims, including discrimination, harassment, retaliation, and wrongful termination to advising on compliance issues and best practices. Her experience also includes drafting employment contracts, such as separation, employment, independent contractor, and non-compete agreements. Before join ing Fisher Phillips, she was an associate at one of Vermont’s largest law

CONCLUSION OSHA has an obligation to protect work ers’ health and safety. The powers that the Act has granted OSHA are both vital and far-reaching. However, that obligation must work in tandem with the rights guar anteed to citizens and establishments by the Constitution, particularly the Fourth Amendment. Since the Supreme Court’s decision in Marshall , subsequent lower courts have made clear that OSHA inspec tions, like all governmental intrusions, must balance enforcement with privacy rights. For employers, understanding the scope and limits of OSHA’s inspection powers is essential to protecting business operations and constitutional rights. For attorneys, it is critical to stay current with evolving case law and regulatory practices to ensure that clients are not only compliant but also con stitutionally protected. As administrative law continues to develop in the digital era, the intersection of workplace regulation and the Fourth Amendment will remain a dynamic and significant area of legal practice. ENDNOTES 1 29 U.S.C. § 657(a). 2 Id . 3 U.S. Const. amend. IV. 4 Payton v. New York Riddick v. New York , 445 U.S. 573, 597 (1979). 5 387 U.S. 523 (1967). 6 Marshall v. Barlow’s, Inc. , 436 U.S. 307, 308 (1978). 13 Id . 14 Id . 15 Id . 16 Id . 17 Id . 18 Marshall , 436 U.S.at 308. 19 Id . 20 Yocom v. Burnette Tractor Co., Inc. , 566 S.W.2d 755 (Ky. 1978). 21 Id . at 758. 22 Id . 23 Kentucky Labor Cabinet v. Graham , 43 S.W.3d 247 (Ky. 2001), abrogated by Ward v. Ky. Bd. of Embalmers & Funeral Dirs. , NO. 2014-CA 000534-MR (Ky. Ct. App. Jun 17, 2016) (hold ing on jurisdiction question overruled by Ward , but Fourth Amendment analysis remains good law). 24 Harland Clarke Corp. v. Ky. Occupational Safety , 2023-CA-0968-MR (Ky. Ct. App. Aug 23, 2024). 25 Id . 7 Id . at 309. 8 Id . at 310. 9 Id . at 323. 10 Id . at 313. 11 Id . at 315. 12 21 U.S.C. § 880

firms where she focused on labor and employment matters, including advising on various state and federal employment laws and performing compliance audits for record-keeping, employee handbook requirements, affirmative action obligations, federal and state wage and hour mandates, and family leave programs.

JOHN ROGERS is Of Counsel in Fisher Phillips’ Louisville office, and a member of the firm’s workplace safety practice group and energy industry team. Rogers advises employers in a wide range of complex labor and employment matters including but not limited to catastrophe management, Occupational Safety and Health (“OSHA”) investigations, OSHA related litigation, OSHA compliance, workplace discrimination matters, and various other workplace policies and personnel matters ensuring compliance with local, state, and federal laws. Prior to joining Fisher Phillips, he worked

for the Kentucky Education and Labor Cabinet, Department of Workplace Standards where he assisted with investigations into OSHA, wage and hour, unfair labor, and child labor violations and prosecuted those matters in administrative and state courts.

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