UPS paid $254,000 to a former mechanic and alleged whistleblower who filed complaints about the company with the Occupational Safety and Health Administration.

The mechanic claimed he was terminated after complaining about unsafe trucks at the company's Watertown, N.Y., terminal, and alleged UPS violated federal whistleblower protections.

An OSHA investigation "found merit to the complaints," the federal agency said in a March 19 statement. UPS elected to settle without admitting or denying the allegations of the complaint.

In addition to paying the former employee $254,000, UPS will post OSHA whistleblower fact sheets in all its New York facilities, OSHA said. "The settlement goes beyond one employee in one location and ensures that UPS employees throughout the Empire States are aware of this vital safeguard," said Louis Ricca Jr., OSHA's acting regional administrator in New York.