April 2, 2015

WHD News Brief: U.S. Labor Department lawsuit seeks back wages, damages for 2 recreational vehicle technicians in Coloma, Michigan [04/02/2015]

Date of Action: March 30, 2015

Type of Action: Complaint

Names of Defendants: Krenek Motors Inc., 6542 Ryno Rd, Coloma, MI 49038 d/b/a Krenek RV and Scott Krenek

April 2, 2015

OSHA News Brief: USPS mail processing center again cited by OSHA for fire extinguisher, electrical violations at St. Louis facility [04/02/2015]

Employer name: United States Postal Service

Investigation site: 1720 Market Street, St. Louis, Missouri

Date investigation initiated and what prompted inspection: On Jan.13, 2015, the U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration initiated an inspection of a United States Postal Service mail processing site after receiving a complaint alleging unsafe working conditions at the facility.

April 2, 2015

OSHA News Release: Aluminum foundry exposes workers to chlorine gas and other hazards [04/02/2015]

Custom Alloy Sales 34P faces more than $160K in fines for 31 safety and health violations

PRESCOTT, Kan. — Workers risked exposure to dangerous chlorine gas while forging blocks of metal material at an aluminum foundry in Prescott because their employer did not train them on how to handle and store the gas, U.S. Department of Labor Occupational Safety and Health Administration inspectors found. Improperly used, chlorine gas can cause severe respiratory damage.

April 2, 2015

OSHA News Release: Kroger allows forklift hazards at Columbus supermarket [04/02/2015]

COLUMBUS, Ohio — Millions of pounds of merchandise and materials are moved each year by forklift drivers, thousands of whom suffer severe injuries while navigating narrow aisles, fellow workers with heavy, sometimes shifting loads. The dangers facing those who drive or work around forklifts were on display at a Kroger Co. supermarket in Columbus, Ohio which now faces $130,900 in fines for several violations.

April 2, 2015

OSHA News Brief: OSHA cites South Carolina contractor for exposing workers to cave-in and struck-by hazards at work site in Pooler, Georgia [04/02/2015]

Employer name: Jordan Construction Co. of Hilton Head Inc.

Inspection site: At the time of the inspection, workers were installing sewer lines at the intersection of North and West Godley Station Roads, Pooler, Georgia 31322.

Date inspection initiated: The Occupational Safety and Health Administration initiated the Oct. 8, 2014 inspection as part of the agency's National Emphasis Program on Trenching and Excavation.

April 2, 2015

OSHA News Brief: Workers exposed to asbestos hazards at A.M. Castle & Co. in Franklin Park [04/02/2015]

Employer name: A.M. Castle & Co.

Investigation site: 3400 N. Wolf Road, Franklin Park, IL, 60131

April 2, 2015

WHD News Release: US Labor Department expands its support of victims of human trafficking and other crimes [04/02/2015]

SEATTLE — U.S. Secretary of Labor Thomas E. Perez today announced that the labor department's Wage and Hour Division will begin to exercise its authority to certify applications for trafficking victims seeking "T" visas. The division will also certify "U" visa requests when it detects three additional qualifying criminal activities in the course of its workplace investigations: extortion, forced labor, and fraud in foreign labor contracting. The announcement was made at a roundtable on new American integration in Seattle hosted by OneAmerica.

April 2, 2015

WHD News Release: Honolulu electrical contractor owes workers more than $1.2M in back wages, submits false records and attempts to obstruct investigators [04/02/2015]

HONOLULU — A federal electrical contractor, Lighting Services Inc. will pay 38 electricians/technicians more than $1.2 million in back wages after U.S. Department of Labor's Wage and Hour Division investigators determined the company did not pay required prevailing wages to workers at Marine Corps Base Hawaii in Kaneohe Bay. The division also found the employer submitted falsified payrolls and told workers to provide false information to investigators.

April 2, 2015

OSHA News Release: OSHA updates guidance for protecting healthcare and social service workers from workplace violence [04/02/2015]

WASHINGTON — In 2013, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported more than 23,000 significant injuries due to assault at work. More than 70 percent of these assaults were in healthcare and social service settings. Health care and social service workers are almost four times as likely to be injured as a result of violence than the average private sector worker.

April 1, 2015

OSHA News Brief: Lack of cave-in protections led to trench collapse, Bednar Landscape workers' deaths in Boonton [04/01/2015]

Employer name and location: Bednar Landscape Services Inc., located at 501 Division Street in Boonton, New Jersey. The company provides landscape, excavation and snow removal services throughout northern New Jersey.

April 1, 2015

OSHA News Brief: USPS cited for electrical hazards at Chicago's Clark Street distribution center [04/01/2015]

Employer name: United States Postal Service

Investigation site: 2643 N. Clark, Chicago, IL 60614

Date investigation initiated and what prompted inspection: On Jan. 14, the U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration's Chicago North Area Office initiated an inspection of the mail sorting facility after receiving a complaint alleging unsafe working conditions.

March 31, 2015

WHD News Release: Operator of 70 hotels in Michigan, Ohio, Indiana agrees to change business practices after US Labor Department finds significant wage violations [03/31/2015]

DETROIT — Workers in the hotel industry are hard-working people who make our beds, clean our rooms, maintain the property and greet us with a smile. Many of them earn low wages and often struggle to meet their basic needs. This challenge is made even more difficult when employers fail to pay them for all the hours they worked.

March 31, 2015

WHD News Brief: Raymond's to pay more than $325,500 in back wages for overtime, minimum wage violations at Ridgewood and Montclair, NJ, eateries [03/31/2015]

Employer: Raymond's Ridgewood LLC, restaurant owner

Sites: Raymond's restaurants located at 101 East Ridgewood Ave., Ridgewood, N.J., and 28 Church Street in Montclair, N.J.

March 31, 2015

WHD News Brief: Philadelphia-based farm labor contractor ordered to pay $146K in penalties for federal labor violations at Lumberton, New Jersey, nursery [03/31/2015]

Type of Action: Default Judgment

Respondents: Farm labor contractor Heng Heng Agency, Inc., and its owner Visith Oum

March 31, 2015

WHD News Brief: Rhode Island restaurant chain to pay over $100K in wages, damages to 32 underpaid employees following US Labor Department investigation [03/31/2015]

Employer name: CMG Holding Company, LLC d/b/a/ Cilantro Mexican Grill.

Investigation sites: 1255 Reservoir Ave., Cranston; 127 Weybosset St, Providence; 430 Newport Ave, Rumford;1650 Mineral Spring Ave, Providence; 166 JT Connell Highway, Newport; 712 Center of New England Boulevard, Coventry; 1759 Post Road, Warwick.

March 31, 2015

OSHA News Brief: OSHA fines Dayton, New Jersey, companies $64,200 after investigation finds blocked exit routes and chemical, noise and energy control hazards [03/31/2015]

Employers name and location: Imagine Screen Printing & Productions LLC, which imprints graphic design images onto apparel such as t-shirts and sweatshirts. Central Mills Inc., doing business as Freeze, sorts, packs and distributes the apparel to some of the nation's largest retailers, including Walmart, Macy's and Target.

Both companies are located at 473 Ridge Road in Dayton, New Jersey, and have the same management, maintenance employees and safety departments.

March 30, 2015

Fiduciaries to restore $485K to Bridgeport, Connecticut, retirement plan

Date of Action: March 19, 2015

Type of Action: Amended Consent Judgment and Order

Names of Defendant: Fletcher-Thompson, Inc. Savings Plan and Michael S. Marcinek, in their capacities as fiduciaries of the Fletcher-Thompson Inc. Savings Plan

March 30, 2015

Fiduciaries to restore $485K to Bridgeport, Connecticut, retirement plan

Date of Action: March 19, 2015

Type of Action: Amended Consent Judgment and Order

Names of Defendant: Fletcher-Thompson, Inc. Savings Plan and Michael S. Marcinek, in their capacities as fiduciaries of the Fletcher-Thompson Inc. Savings Plan

March 30, 2015

WHD News Release: US Department of Labor finds oil and gas industry workers in New Mexico, west Texas underpaid by more than $1.3M [03/30/2015]

ALBUQUERQUE — A day's work in an oilfield usually means long hours in physically demanding and exhausting conditions. Industry workers deserve every penny of their hard-earned wages. In the oil-and-gas-rich Southwest, the U.S. Department of Labor's Wage and Hour Division is making sure these workers get their pay. Since it launched an enforcement initiative covering New Mexico and west Texas in 2014, the agency has recovered more than $1.3 million owed to more than 1,300 workers.

March 30, 2015

OSHA News Release: Wood pellet manufacturer ignores serious safety hazards and fines, places workers at repeated risk of amputation and fire [03/30/2015]

NIAGARA, Wis. — For the fifth time in the past three years, U.S. Department of Labor Occupational Safety and Health Administration inspectors found workers at Wood Fibers Inc. at risk of amputation, fire and other life-threatening hazards in October 2014. Despite OSHA's effort, the company has failed to provide proof that hazards had been fixed or pay penalties from previous inspections.