As the summer hiring season creeps ever closer, U.S. businesses will be offering more employment opportunities to teen workers, but employers must keep in mind that, by law, underage employees can’t be given hazardous job duties. Recent violations found by the Department of Labor’s (DOL) Wage and Hour Division in Idaho and Oregon illustrate that […]
A Wisconsin corn mill and six of its managers have been indicted by a federal grand jury for a May 31, 2017, fatal explosion. Didion Milling and several members of its management face nine criminal counts, including two counts related to willful violations of OSHA standards for grain handling. The indictment, which was handed down […]
Tampa Electric pleaded guilty to OSHA violations in the June 2017 Big Bend Power Station explosion that killed five workers. The company submitted a plea agreement in federal court stating it was guilty of violating OSHA standards that resulted in the fatal incident. OSHA fined Tampa Electric $500,000 for the violations and the plea agreement […]
A Florida business owner was sentenced to federal prison for workers’ compensation fraud involving wire-fraud conspiracy. George Garcia, the owner of a Tampa-based construction company, was sentenced to 21 months in prison and ordered to forfeit $126,200 acquired through the wire-fraud conspiracy. Garcia’s company supplied construction services and labor for contractors and subcontractors in Florida, […]
In the age of the COVID-19 pandemic, can an employer be held responsible for the health and safety of an employee’s family? The answer is maybe for now, but cases in California could change that. How can an employer possibly be liable if a worker’s family gets sick? That’s a question that has become a […]
Can an injured worker hold their employer liable after tripping over a plastic tarp while painting? A New York appeals court said no, but not without dissent from two judges on the five-judge panel. While the majority found the tarp didn’t qualify as a foreign substance under state’s labor law, two judges felt the tarp […]
A Santa Clarita, California-based contractor was arraigned April 8 for a $425,000 workers’ compensation fraud scheme. Adan Deniz was charged with 21 felony counts of workers’ compensation fraud, forgery and theft by false pretense for allegedly underreporting payroll by more than $425,000 and creating false certificates of insurance to secure jobs. He forged insurance certificates […]
Two businesses in Salt Lake City are in trouble with the Department of Labor (DOL) for allowing teen workers to operate trash compactors. Investigators with the DOL Wage and Hour Division found Meisterguys LLC, operator of Five Guys Burgers & Fries Ogden, and PCO-KTA LLC, operator of Kent’s Market, allowed minors to operate or assist […]
The owner of two California farm labor companies is facing up to eight years in jail after pleading guilty to workers’ compensation fraud. Robert Delara pleaded guilty to workers’ compensation fraud and admitted he discouraged his employees from seeking medical care for on-the-job injuries. Sentencing is scheduled for June 2, 2022, in the Ventura County […]
