January 7, 2015

U.S. Department of Labor obtains consent judgment restoring more than $12K to employee benefit plans of Omaha, Nebraska, construction company

Date of Action: Jan. 6, 2015

Type of Action: Consent judgment

Name of Defendant: David E. Doll

Allegations: Based on an investigation conducted by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Employee Benefit Security Administration, the Secretary of Labor filed a complaint on Dec. 30, 2013 alleging:

January 7, 2015

US Department of Labor files suit to appoint an independent fiduciary for abandoned employee benefit plan in Georgia

Date of Action: Dec. 17, 2014

Type of Action: Complaint

Name(s) of Defendant(s): Bryan M. Johns and Rainwire Partners Inc. 401(k) Plan

January 7, 2015

WHD News Release: US Labor Department sues Little Rock, Arkansas, electrical contractor for failing to pay federal contract workers properly [01/07/2015]

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — The U.S. Department of Labor has filed a lawsuit with the Office of Administrative Law Judges against LRE Royal Electrical Contractors Inc. and its owner, George E. Smith, to recover $345,077 in back wages for 61 electrical workers. The action also seeks to prevent the company and Smith from obtaining federal contracts for three years.

January 7, 2015

OSHA News Release: OSHA cites Agridyne after 2 workers succumb to dangerous fumes while cleaning rail cars at Pekin, Illinois, facility [01/07/2015]

PEKIN, Ill. — A 37-year-old worker at Agridyne's Pekin facility climbed down into a rail car to clean out corn steep residue and was overcome by dangerous hydrogen sulfide gas. A 29-year-old tank inspector, who attempted to rescue the first worker, succumbed to the gas exposure as well. Neither worker made it out of the car alive.

January 7, 2015

OSHA News Release: Employees at Wolcott, New York, Dollar General store face locked exit [01/07/2015]

SYRACUSE, N.Y. —— Dollar General store employees in Wolcott could not exit the store swiftly during a fire or emergency because of a locked emergency door in the store's back room, an Oct. 24, 2014, inspection by the U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration found. In 2010, OSHA cited the retail chain for the same hazard at a store in Buffalo.

January 7, 2015

OSHA News Release: Worker's death at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, leads to willful and serious violations for Tekton Construction Co. [01/07/2015]

Rescue personnel were unable to save a 22-year-old worker after a fatal trench cave-in at Fort Bragg, N.C.

Rescue personnel were unable to save a 22-year-old worker after a fatal trench cave-in at Fort Bragg, N.C.

January 6, 2015

OSHA News Release: Temporary worker suffers permanent disability after packaging machine crushes him [01/06/2015]

This palletizer conveyor is the type of machine an Ice River Springs worker unjammed on July 6, 2014, at the company's High Springs, Florida, facility.

This palletizer conveyor is the type of machine an Ice River Springs worker unjammed on July 6, 2014, at the company's High Springs, Florida, facility.

January 6, 2015

OSHA News Release: Chemical cleanup workers still exposed to dangerous hazards [01/06/2015]

CHANNAHON, Ill. — For the third time in two years, a chemical tank cleaning service has exposed workers cleaning portable tank wagons to dangerous confined space hazards. Responding to a complaint, U.S. Department of Labor Occupational Safety and Health Administration inspectors found seven repeated and two serious violations at Dedicated TCS LLC's Channahon site. OSHA has proposed penalties of $79,464.

January 6, 2015

OSHA News Release: OSHA cites MFG Chemical Inc. for repeated safety hazards after 2 workers injured, 1 fatally [01/06/2015]

DALTON, Ga. — An MFG Chemical Inc. worker died after hazardous chemical vapors released from an overpressurized reactor burned his respiratory system. A second employee was treated at a hospital and released. A July 2014 inspection by the U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration resulted in citations for MFG for 17 safety and health violations. OSHA initiated the inspection after a media referral alleged that a chemical release at the manufacturing facility had occurred.

January 5, 2015

US Labor Department files suit seeking removal of trustee and appointment of independent fiduciary for abandoned New York City 401(k) plan

Date of Action: Dec. 23, 2014

Type of Action: Complaint

Names of Defendants: Mattie Kon and Blitz Systems Inc. 401(k) Plan.

An investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Employee Benefits Security Administration resulted in the department filing a suit in federal court alleging violations of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act:

January 5, 2015

US Department of Labor obtains order requiring fiduciary to restore $80K to Cargill Heating & Air Conditioning Co., Inc. Savings Plan in La Crosse, Wis.

Date of Action: Jan. 5, 2015

Type of Action: Consent Order and Judgment

Names of Defendants: Cargill Heating & Air Conditioning Co., Inc., Michael Earl Galstad, and Cargill Heating & Air Conditioning Co., Inc. Savings Plan in La Crosse, Wis.

Allegations: The U.S. Department of Labor filed a lawsuit on March 25, 2014, in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Wisconsin, alleging violations of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act by the defendants.

January 5, 2015

WHD News Release: Monroeville, New Jersey, farm to pay $175,000 in back wages and penalties [01/05/2015]

MONROEVILLE, N.J. — Cassaday Farms LLC has agreed to pay a total of $117,130 in back wages and $57,870 in civil money penalties to settle charges leveled by the U.S. Department of Labor that the business unlawfully rejected 13 qualified U.S. workers, who applied for seasonal employment, and showed preferential treatment to H-2A workers, in violation of the Immigration and Nationality Act.

January 5, 2015

OSHA News Release: OSHA cites Piasa, Illinois, roofing company for worker fatality [01/05/2015]

Company fails to provide fall protection on job site

January 5, 2015

OSHA News Release: Hagerty Brothers Co. exposes workers to dangerous lead and copper dust in Peoria, Illinois [01/05/2015]

OSHA fines company more than $170K for willfully putting employees at risk

January 5, 2015

OSHA News Release: CS Metals exposes scrapyard workers to dangerous levels of lead, copper and arsenic fumes at St. Marys, Ohio, facility [01/05/2015]

ST. MARYS, Ohio — Three employees were exposed to dangerous levels of lead, arsenic, iron oxide and copper particles and fumes while torch-cutting steel at a scrapyard operated by OmniSource St. Marys. Their employer, CS Metals Inc., did not provide required personal protective equipment or health monitoring, a June 2014 investigation by the U.S.

January 5, 2015

OSHA News Release: 'Severe violator' Domestic Casting endangers workers by ignoring prior OSHA violations at iron foundry [01/05/2015]

More than two dozen violations at Shippensburg site yield $152,912 in fines

January 5, 2015

OSHA News Release: Edgerton, Wisconsin, roofing company cited by OSHA for exposing workers to fallsthe leading cause of workplace fatalities
[01/05/2015]

EDGERTON, Wis. — Diaz Roofing LLC allowed four employees to reshingle a residential rooftop without required fall protection, the U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration has found. As a result, OSHA cited the roofing company for one willful and one serious safety violation with proposed penalties of $73,080. The company has been cited previously 11 times for lack of fall protection.

January 5, 2015

ODEP News Release: Disability employment advisory committee adds 17 public members [01/05/2015]

WASHINGTONU.S. Secretary of Labor Thomas E. Perez today announced the 17 public members who will serve on the new Advisory Committee on Increasing Competitive Integrated Employment for Individuals with Disabilities, a key provision of the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act.