DALLAS – The U.S. Department of Labor has sued Eclipse Freight Systems Inc. and its owner Christopher L. McDougal in an effort to recover about $62,000 in employee retirement contributions. The department's lawsuit, filed in U.S. Northern District Court of Texas, Fort Worth Division, alleges that Mr. McDougal and his company violated the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 by using assets belonging to the employee retirement plan for the benefit of his business operations.

Date of Action: October 1, 2014

Type of Action: Complaint

Name of Defendant: Holden Sand & Gravel, Joseph Montalto, fiduciary for the Holden Sand and Gravel SIMPLE IRA Plan

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Department of Labor has sued Eclipse Freight Systems Inc. and its owner Christopher L. McDougal in an effort to recover about $62,000 in employee retirement contributions. The department's lawsuit, filed in U.S. Northern District Court of Texas, Fort Worth Division, alleges that Mr. McDougal and his company violated the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 by using assets belonging to the employee retirement plan for the benefit of his business operations.

WASHINGTON — U.S. Secretary of Labor Thomas E. Perez issued the following statement about the September 2014 Employment Situation report released today:

"The nation's economic recovery continued in September with the addition of 248,000 new jobs. It was the 55th consecutive month of private-sector job creation, during which time businesses have created 10.3 million jobs. In 2014, we have experienced the most robust year-to-date private-sector job growth since 1998. The unemployment rate fell to 5.9 percent, its lowest level since July 2008.

HARTFORD, Conn. — The death of a 28-year-old worker who fell 18 feet from a roof could have been prevented if proper fall protection safeguards had been used by M&M Roofing, of Wolcott, an inspection by the Hartford Area Office of the U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration has found.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — In the past five years, 15 percent of all workplace fatalities investigated by the Kansas City Regional Office of the U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration have involved vehicle accidents that struck employees in the workplace.

MIAMISBURG, Ohio — A 48-year-old supervisor was fatally injured when he was struck by a metal door while performing maintenance at Certified Heat Treating Inc. in Miamisburg. The U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration has cited the company for 10 serious violations, many involving OSHA's confined space and lockout/tagout standards for the control of machinery and moving parts.

SOMERVILLE, N.J. — Custom-order cabinetry company Choice Cabinetry LLC exposed employees to safety and health hazards, many involving methylene chloride, according to the U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration. Initiated as part of its Site-Specific Targeting Program for industries with high injury and illness rates, OSHA's March 2014 inspection cited the Somerville company for 15 violations, including three willful. Proposed penalties total $136,290.

WASHINGTON — Officials of the U.S. Department of Labor's Wage and Hour Division and the Alabama Department of Labor today signed a memorandum of understanding to protect the rights of employees by preventing their misclassification as something other than employees, such as independent contractors.

WASHINGTON — The pattern of violations reforms undertaken by the U.S. Department of Labor's Mine Safety and Health Administration have been "a game changer in mine safety and health culture," Assistant Secretary of Labor for Mine Safety and Health Joseph A. Main said as the reforms near their second anniversary.

NEW YORK — The U.S. Department of Labor has obtained a temporary restraining order in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York enjoining a Poughkeepsie business and its owners from intimidating and retaliating against any of their employees who are cooperating in a federal investigation.

COLUMBUS, Ohio — A Columbus Castings worker suffered a broken back, a collapsed lung and partial paralysis of his left leg after becoming pinned in a machine at the steel foundry on April 22, 2014. An investigation into the incident has resulted in the issuance of two repeat and two serious safety violations by the U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration.

DENVER — Burlington Northern Santa Fe LLC retaliated against a Mandan, North Dakota, worker in December 2013 after he reported a work-related injury and submitted a physician's treatment plan, according to an investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration. OSHA has ordered Fort Worth, Texas-based BNSF to pay more than $30,000 in back wages and damages and to take other corrective action.

CONCORD, N.H. — Employees of Ken Stanley, doing business as A+ Roofing, were exposed to potentially fatal falls of up to 25 feet at a Somersworth job site due to their employer's failure to ensure the use of required fall protection. The Milton-based roofing contractor, who has been cited five times previously for the same hazard, faces $61,600 in proposed fines from the U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration.

WASHINGTON — Upholding President Obama's promise to make 2014 a year of action to expand opportunity, reward work and grow the middle class, U.S. Secretary of Labor Thomas E. Perez today announced a final rule that raises the minimum wage for workers on federal service and construction contracts to $10.10 per hour. The final rule implements Executive Order 13658, which was announced by the president on Feb. 12, and it will benefit nearly 200,000 American workers.

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and Treasury today published a final rule that adjusts regulations originally issued under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 regarding dental and vision benefits. The new rule also expands the definition of excepted benefits to include employee assistance programs.

CHICAGO — Workers renovating a historical 1887 firehouse in Chicago were exposed to asbestos and electrical hazards, according to an investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration. The inspection found Structure Development Midwest LLC failed to collect and dispose of asbestos-containing material in sealed, labeled and waterproof bags.

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Department of Labor's Office of Disability Employment Policy announced today a cooperative agreement award of $1,848,350 to The Viscardi Center in Albertson, New York, to manage and operate the National Employer Policy, Research and Technical Assistance Center on the Employment of People with Disabilities.

The center will be a resource to assist employers with recruiting, hiring, retaining and promoting people with disabilities by:

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Department of Labor's Office of Disability Employment Policy announced today a cooperative agreement award of $1,848,350 to The Viscardi Center in Albertson, New York, to manage and operate the National Employer Policy, Research and Technical Assistance Center on the Employment of People with Disabilities.

The center will be a resource to assist employers with recruiting, hiring, retaining and promoting people with disabilities by:

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Department of Labor's Bureau of International Labor Affairs today announced a $2 million competitive solicitation for a project to strengthen the capacity of Peru's labor inspectorate.