August 26, 2015

Suit seeks recovery of more than $1.6M in losses to employee profit-sharing plan after Illinois health care provider allegedly made improper distributions

CHICAGO – The U.S. Department of Labor is suing an Illinois home health care provider alleging that the company, the profit-sharing plan and two of its trustees improperly authorized distributions of $1,601,908 in profit-sharing plan assets, in violation of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act.

The department’s suit names Palos Hills-based Alliance Home Healthcare Inc.; the Alliance Home Healthcare Inc. Profit Sharing Plan; and company owners and plan trustees, Reginaldo Sulit and Dalisay Sulit.

August 26, 2015

WHD News Brief: Chandler medical transportation company to pay more than $121K in back wages to more than 50 drivers after US Labor Department investigation [08/26/2015]

Employer: Z-Best Medical Transportation, LLC

Site: 1505 N. Alma School Rd., Chandler, Arizona 85224

August 26, 2015

OSHA News Brief: Workers exposed to multiple hazards at farm machinery manufacturer [08/26/2015]

Employer name: H & S Manufacturing Co. Inc., Marshfield, Wisconsin

Citations issued: Aug. 18, 2015

Investigation findings: The U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration's Madison Area Office issued 13 safety and health violations to the farm machinery and equipment manufacturer. The violations include:

August 26, 2015

EBSA News Release: Suit seeks recovery of more than $1.6M in losses to employee profit-sharing plan after Illinois health care provider allegedly made improper distributions [08/26/2015]

CHICAGO — The U.S. Department of Labor is suing an Illinois home health care provider alleging that the company, the profit-sharing plan and two of its trustees improperly authorized distributions of $1,601,908 in profit-sharing plan assets, in violation of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act.

The department's suit names Palos Hills-based Alliance Home Healthcare Inc.; the Alliance Home Healthcare Inc. Profit Sharing Plan; and company owners and plan trustees, Reginaldo Sulit and Dalisay Sulit.

August 26, 2015

EBSA News Release: US Labor Department finds illegal retaliation in Cement Masons Southern California Trust Funds case [08/26/2015]

WASHINGTON — As director of the Cement Masons Southern California Trust Funds' audit and collections department, Cheryle Robbins spoke up when she believed a trustee was breaking federal law protecting CMSCTF's retirement and benefit plans. Robbins later cooperated with federal investigators, and the board of trustees responded by placing Robbins on administrative leave. When the company outsourced her department to a third-party administrator, Robbins was the only employee not retained by the new employer.

August 25, 2015

MSHA announces results of July impact inspections

ARLINGTON, Va. The Mine Safety and Health Administration today announced that federal inspectors issued 225 citations and six orders during special impact inspections at 15 coal mines and six metal and nonmetal mines in July.

August 25, 2015

OSHA News Brief: Atlanta's American Air Filter Co. continues to expose workers to serious safety hazards [08/25/2015]

OSHA proposes penalties of nearly $120K for employer with history of safety violations

Employer name: American Air Filter Co. Inc., doing business as AAF International

Inspection site: 2624 Weaver Way, Atlanta, Georgia 30340

August 25, 2015

OSHA News Brief: US Wisconsin mailing processor will hire 23 job applicants in racial hiring discrimination settlement [08/25/2015]

Employer name: Select Van and Storage doing business as Mayflower/United, 10511 S. Circle, Omaha, Nebraska

Citations issued: The U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration issued one serious, and one other-than-serious safety violation to the company by mail on Aug. 14, 2015.

August 25, 2015

MSHA News Release: MSHA announces results of July impact inspections [08/25/2015]

Hazards cited at Nebraska operation mirror those found following March fatality

ARLINGTON, Va. — The Mine Safety and Health Administration today announced that federal inspectors issued 225 citations and six orders during special impact inspections at 15 coal mines and six metal and nonmetal mines in July.

August 24, 2015

OSHA News Brief: Alabama roofing contractor sentenced for making false statements to OSHA inspectors following an incident that seriously injured 3 workers [08/24/2015]

Date of action: Aug. 6, 2015

Type of action: Sentencing

Name of defendant: Marcus Borden, a steel and roofing contractor, based in Russellville, Alabama

Allegations: On April 6, 2015, the U.S. Department of Justice charged Marcus Borden with making false statements and lying to U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration inspectors regarding an incident investigation at one of Borden's work sites in Cordova, Alabama, on March 18, 2013.

August 24, 2015

OFCCP News Brief: Wisconsin mailing processor will hire 23 job applicants in racial hiring discrimination settlement [08/24/2015]

United Mailing Services agrees to pay $120K in back wages to 251 applicants

MILWAUKEE — The U.S. Department of Labor's Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs has found that United Mailing Services denied jobs to 251 African Americans who completed job applications for entry-level mail processing jobs at its Brookfield, Wisconsin facility.

August 21, 2015

WHD News Brief: US Department of Labor files suit alleging restaurant classified some employees as volunteers [08/21/2015]

Type of Action: Fair Labor Standards Act Lawsuit

Name of Defendant: Cathedral Buffet Inc., and Ernest Angley, 2690 State Road, Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio

August 20, 2015

OSHA News Release: 23-year-old worker loses part of finger in machine [08/20/2015]

PAINESVILLE, Ohio — A 23-year-old machine operator making nuts and bolts suffered a partial amputation of his right middle finger when it was caught in a machine at a Painesville manufacturer. He had only three weeks' experience with the equipment when the injury occurred.

August 19, 2015

OSHA News Release: Hannaford Supermarkets acts to prevent musculoskeletal injuries for warehouse employees in Maine and New York [08/19/2015]

BOSTON — Before consumers get to choose products in the supermarket, workers in warehouses nationwide pack bulk quantities of merchandise onto wooden pallets and load them onto delivery trucks. The nature of this work puts the people who do it at risk for serious sprains, strains and other musculoskeletal injuries. One supermarket chain, Maine-based Hannaford Supermarkets, has chosen to address the issue.

August 18, 2015

One-year anniversary of respirable coal dust rule shows reforms are working

MSHA's Main: Miners better protected with industry compliance at 99 percent

August 18, 2015

Court orders Gulf Shores Marina LLC and fiduciaries to compensate GSM/RYS 401(k) Plan for failure to remit employee contributions

Date of Action: Aug. 4, 2015

Type of Action: Consent Judgment and Order

Name(s) of Defendant(s): Gulf Shores Marina LLC, Laura M. Prioli, Stephen C. Main, Kenneth A. Main II, and the GSM/RYS 401(k) Plan 

August 18, 2015

Perez v. Clark V. Hayes, Default Judgment involving the Applied Technology Systems, Inc. Retirement Plan in Cleveland, Ohio

Date of Action: July 10, 2015

Type of Action: Default Judgment

Names of Defendant: Applied Technology Systems, Inc. and Clark V. Hayes, individually and as fiduciaries to the Applied Technology Systems, Inc. Retirement Plan, and the Applied Technology Systems, Inc. Retirement Plan

August 18, 2015

Labor Department files suit against Steven J. Watkins and Oxford Holdings Inc. alleging that they kept employees' contributions to retirement plan

Date of action: Aug. 7, 2015

Type of action: Complaint

Name(s) of defendant(s): Steven J. Watkins, Oxford Holdings Inc., and Aetna 401(k) Plan

August 18, 2015

OSHA News Brief: Alabama trucking company misclassified workers as independent contractors [08/18/2015]

Employer to pay 63 employees nearly $113K in back wages and damages following Labor Department investigation

Employer name: Fitzhugh Contracting LLC

Investigation site: 30513 Highway 43 South, Gallion, Alabama 36742