PIQUA, Ohio — Miami Valley Polishing has been cited for continuing to expose workers to excessive noise levels at its Piqua metal polishing plant following a January 2014 inspection. The U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration previously cited the company in 2013 for the same violation. OSHA has proposed fines of $50,820 for the two repeat and three serious violations cited.

TECUMSEH, Neb. — Following the death of a truck driver at Midwest Farmers Cooperative's grain handling facility in Tecumseh, the U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration has cited the company for 12 serious safety violations. The driver, who was not provided a respirator or personal protective clothing, was overcome by anhydrous ammonia vapors while transferring the liquid from a semitruck to bulk storage tanks.

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Department of Labor today announced a $471,629 National Emergency Grant to assist approximately 228 workers affected by layoffs at several of Oshkosh Defense's, a division of Oshkosh Corp., facilities located in Oshkosh, Wisconsin.

OSHA previously cited Ohio fabric manufacturing plant in October 2013

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Department of Labor today announced a $471,629 National Emergency Grant to assist approximately 228 workers affected by layoffs at several of Oshkosh Defense's, a division of Oshkosh Corp., facilities located in Oshkosh, Wisconsin.

BISMARCK, N.D. — Since January 2012, 34 North Dakota workers in the oil and gas and construction industries have died because of work-related injuries. During that period, their deaths accounted for 87 percent of all North Dakota fatalities investigated by the U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Health and Safety Administration.

PONTIAC, Ill. — For the second time this year, Interlake Mecalux Inc. has been cited for exposing workers to amputation hazards by failing to have adequate guards on dangerous machinery. The U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration found two repeat and two serious violations following a March 2014 inspection at the company's Pontiac plant.

WASHINGTON — The application period for the fall 2015 Honors Program in the Office of the Solicitor at the U.S. Department of Labor is underway. The program provides challenging professional opportunities for outstanding law school graduates with a passion for public service.

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — Copemish employer Darryl Howes, doing business as Darryl Howes Farms, signed a consent judgment under which he agreed to pay $11,253 in back wages to 36 migrant workers to resolve a lawsuit filed by the U.S. Department of Labor. Howes has agreed to implement enhanced record-keeping procedures to ensure the business complies with the record-keeping provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act.

HOUSTON — Sterling Shipyard LP was cited for 16 serious, repeat and failure-to-abate violations by the U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration for continuing to expose workers to safety hazards, including dangerous machinery, high noise levels without appropriate hearing protection and falls from heights above 6 feet. Proposed penalties total $305,100.

AUSTIN, Texas — The Underwood Group Inc., along with seven subcontractors, was cited for safety violations by the U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration for failing to provide workers with required fall protection equipment. As a result, a worker fell 29 feet to his death at a condominium construction site in Canyon Lake. The proposed penalties total $53,480.

ST. LOUIS, Mo. — The U.S. Department of Labor has filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Postal Service on behalf of a maintenance employee at the St. Louis Network Distribution Center in Hazelwood, Mo., who reported unsafe working conditions and suffered reprisals, including false charges of making a terrorist threat.

COOLVILLE, Ohio — Two workers were free climbing, or climbing without safety lines, a 195-foot communication tower under construction without adequate fall protection in Coolville. As a result, Morlan Enterprises has been cited for one willful and eight serious safety violations by the U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration. OSHA has proposed penalties of $52,500.

KANSAS CITY, Kan. — The U.S. Department of Labor's Wage and Hour Division will offer a comprehensive compliance seminar for employers, community rehabilitation programs and other stakeholders on the rules governing the payment of workers with disabilities under Section 14(c) of the Fair Labor Standards Act. The seminar will be held from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. CDT at Gateway Tower II Building, 400 State Ave., Room 201, Kansas City, Kansas 66101. Registration begins at 8:30 a.m. There is no charge to attend.

HOUMA, La. — B & D Contracting Inc., a labor recruiting and staffing agency that caters to oil field services and maritime fabrication facilities along the Gulf Coast, has agreed to pay $1,660,438 in back wages to 1,543 current and former employees. An investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor found that the company engaged in improper pay and record-keeping practices that resulted in employees being denied overtime compensation in violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act.

SABINA, Ohio — Three employees of Sabina Farmers Exchange Inc. in Wilmington were found working inside a grain storage bin while a mechanical sweep auger, a machine used to push grain remaining at the bottom of a storage bin toward the bin's opening, was operating. This exposed the workers to severe injury and death by being engulfed in flowing grain. The U.S. Occupational Health and Safety Administration has cited the company for three repeat and six serious safety violations at the company's grain bins in Wilmington and Sabina because of the complaint inspection.

HOUMA, La. — B & D Contracting Inc., a labor recruiting and staffing agency that caters to oil field services and maritime fabrication facilities along the Gulf Coast, has agreed to pay $1,660,438 in back wages to 1,543 current and former employees. An investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor found that the company engaged in improper pay and record-keeping practices that resulted in employees being denied overtime compensation in violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act.

Date of Action: June 30, 2014

Type of Action: Default Judgment & Order

Name(s) of Defendant(s): Scott W. Rothstein

Date of Action: June 30, 2014

Type of Action: Default Judgment & Order

Name(s) of Defendant(s): Scott W. Rothstein

NEW HAVEN, Conn. — A judgment entered in the U.S. District Court for the District of Connecticut resolves a lawsuit filed against S.D. Transportation Services LLC, doing business as Premier Limousine, and owner Stephen DiMarco, by the U.S. Department of Labor in March 2012. Premier Limousine, a Berlin company, will pay a total of $500,000 in back wages and liquidated damages to 183 drivers who were denied legally required overtime wages.