So, long story short, I worked part-time for 7 months for a local small business. All was fine and well, until a workplace accident caused by the employers' negligence caused 5 employees including myself to be injured to a point we all went to the hospital and urgent care facilities for treatment. The employers tried to sweep it under the rug by trying to prevent us from filing workers compensation claims, a well as not reporting the hospitalization and accident to OSHA.
I filed a workers comp claim anyway (as I am legally entitled to), and reported the accident, injuries, and hazards to OSHA. As a result, I was BLATANTLY retaliated against and forced out of the job, all with documents, text messages, official paper trail, and witnesses who saw it all unfold. The Department of Labor, as well as an investigator for OSHA's Whistleblower Protection Program have been interviewing me and collecting all of my documents and evidence to arrange a settlement on my behalf due to being retaliated against. I'm not certain if anything will come of this, however my question is:
I recently was extended an offer for a new job. On my resume and application, I didn't list the job detailed above. I had 8+ years of consistent, strong references and employment history, but by leaving that part time job I was terminated from as a result of the OSHA complaint, I have a 7 month employment gap. The hiring manager didn't even question it, but I was required to fill out a LENGTHY background check form where they wanted specifics on every single place I've worked in the last 10 years. If you have a gap, they want a full clear explanation. The background check company states that they are asking for personality and character traits as well as your reliability, not just confirming employment dates.
I am worried that A.) By listing the company, when the background check company calls, the owner would ABSOLUTELY without a doubt SLAM me because it's a small business and they see me as a “villain” who stood up for workers rights and caused them to get investigated by the department of labor and opened them up to workers comp lawsuits. B.) By leaving an employment gap and explaining I was doing freelance work and temp jobs, they will see that I worked for that company when running my social through TheWorkNumber or similar databases (I wasn't able to put a freeze on my data in time).
Do I have anything to worry about? I know employment gaps shouldn't be that big of a deal, but I'm frustrated that I lost a job through no fault of my own due to the employers' clearly illegal workers rights violations that the Department of Labor found so compelling that they have been actively investigating it for months. In the future, should I include this employer on any background check, or leave it blank? It was my most over-qualified role (part time cashier, my previous positions were all management and supervisor positions), so it hurts my resume in my eyes to even include it. I'm just worried about background check issues.