Date of Action: Aug. 29, 2014

Type of Action: Complaint

Name(s) of Defendant(s): World Health Alternatives Inc. and World Health Alternatives Health and Welfare Benefits Plan

Allegations: Based on an investigation conducted by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Employee Benefits Security Administration, the Secretary of Labor filed a complaint alleging the following:

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — BNSF Railway Co. has been found in violation of the Federal Railroad Safety Act by the U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration for disciplining an employee at its Murray Yard complex for following a physician's treatment plan. The company has been ordered to pay the conductor $12,000 in damages, remove disciplinary information from the employee's personnel record and provide whistleblower rights information to its employees.

MCCOOL JUNCTION, Neb. — Following the death of a 73-year-old worker who sustained fatal injuries from falling while loading a tanker truck, Farmers Cooperative has been cited by the U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration for one repeat and two serious safety violations at its McCool Junction fertilizer plant. The incident occurred May 7, and the worker died from his injuries May 13. The full-time employee had worked for the company since February 2013.

HARTFORD, Conn. — Employees at Superior Plastics Extrusion Co. Inc., doing business as Impact Plastics, were exposed to two dozen safety and health hazards, including falls and mechanical hazards, according to federal inspectors. The U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration has proposed penalties totaling $66,789 for violations at the company's Putnam, Connecticut, manufacturing plant.

PATERSON, N.J. — Workers at Film Pak Extrusion LLC were exposed to amputation and other safety and health hazards according to an investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration. The company's Paterson manufacturing facility has been cited for one willful and 12 serious workplace violations related to the dangerous conditions.

STIRLING, N.J. — Concrete and masonry company Concrete Systems Inc. has been cited for one repeat and seven serious safety hazards following a February investigation conducted by the U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration. OSHA investigators opened the inspection after observing workers constructing formwork without fall protection at the construction site of three midrise buildings at 300 Glenwood Ave. in Bloomfield, New Jersey.

DENVER — Commercial roofer Douglass Colony Group Inc. was cited for four repeat and seven serious violations by the U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration for failing to protect workers from exposure to asbestos at a Denver work site. Proposed penalties total $81,000.

WASHINGTON — Each year, Labor Day gives us an opportunity to recognize the invaluable contributions that working men and women make to our nation, our economy and our collective prosperity. It gives us a chance to show gratitude for workers' grit, dedication, ingenuity and strength, which define our nation's character. At the Labor Department, it also provides an opportunity to reflect on how we can best serve and honor workers in return.

ARLINGTON, Va. — The U.S. Department of Labor's Mine Safety and Health Administration today announced that federal inspectors issued 190 citations and eight orders during special impact inspections conducted at 15 coal mines and three metal and nonmetal mines in July.

The monthly inspections, which began in force in April 2010 following the explosion at the Upper Big Branch Mine, involve mines that merit increased agency attention and enforcement due to their poor compliance history or particular compliance concerns.

NEW YORK – The U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York has appointed an independent fiduciary to administer an abandoned pension benefit plan, resolving a lawsuit filed by the U.S. Department of Labor.

Warehouse service provider to the HEB grocery chain to pay 63 workers

SAN ANTONIO — Costa Solutions LLC, a warehouse service provider to the HEB grocery chain, has agreed to pay $146,459 in overtime back wages to 63 current and former employees after an investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor's Wage and Hour Division.

BRADLEY, Ill. — Employees at a construction site in Bradley were expected to work on a low-sloped roof, 13 feet above the ground without the recommended means of fall protection. Champion Roofing Inc. has been cited for two willful safety violations for exposing workers to these fall hazards by the U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration. OSHA has proposed $48,400 penalties for the violations. The Bensenville, Illinois-based company has been cited by OSHA five times in the past five years for exposing workers to fall hazards.

NEW YORK — The U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York has appointed an independent fiduciary to administer an abandoned pension benefit plan, resolving a lawsuit filed by the U.S. Department of Labor.

GLENVIEW, Ill. — Two employees of DiMeo Brothers Inc. were observed on April 14 working in a 25 foot-deep trench without adequate cave-in protection while installing storm sewers for the Village of Glenview. The U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration has cited the sewer and water contractor for one willful and two serious safety violations carrying proposed penalties of $44,660.

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Department of Labor has sued Kelly Bailey, owner of SCK Management Services Inc., doing business as PROS Rehabilitation, in an effort to recover approximately $136,484 in missing employee retirement contributions and approximately $24,464 in losses from appreciation accruing on those missing funds. The department's lawsuit, filed in U.S.

PRITCHARD, Ala. — An inspection initiated in June 2014 by the U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration found that workers at PJ Lumber Co. were exposed to falls, amputations and other hazards. The company, which manufactures finished lumber products for resale, has been cited for 13 serious safety and health violations found at the company's lumber mill on Stephens Road in Pritchard. Proposed penalties total $50,085.

ST. AUGUSTINE, Fla. — Two employees were injured following an explosion at Indianhead Explorations LLC, doing business as Indianhead Biomass Services, permanently disabling one employee and causing the other to suffer a leg injury. Following the March 2014 incident, the U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration cited the employer with two willful and seven serious safety violations.

PROVIDENCE, R.I. — Employees of The Preservation Society of Newport County were exposed to lead and potentially fatal falls while scraping and abrasively removing lead-based paint from an outbuilding at the Newport mansion known as Chateau-sur-Mer, reports the U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration.

HICKSVILLE, Ohio — FWT LLC has been cited for one repeat and one serious safety violation by the U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration after two employees were injured in separate incidents at the company's Hicksville facility, which manufactures telecommunication towers. OSHA has proposed penalties of $45,500 for exposing the workers to amputation hazards.

ARLINGTON, Va. — The U.S. Department of Labor's Mine Safety and Health Administration announced today that it has allocated $8,348,423 in health and safety training grants for 46 states and the Navajo Nation in fiscal year 2014.