DENVER, CO – The U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado has ordered Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway Company (BNSF) to pay $696,173 in lost back and future wages to a former employee who reported track defects, bringing the total paid to the whistleblower to more than $1.74 million.

LOS ANGELES, CA – After an investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA), the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California has sentenced Kimi Gudmundsen – owner of Healthy Life Acupuncture Center in Los Angeles and Riverside, California – to 30 months in prison and ordered her to pay $2,683,903 in restitution for defrauding Amtrak’s healthcare plan. 

SAVANNAH, GA – After an investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division (WHD), Vos Electric Inc. – an electrical contractor based in Green Bay, Wisconsin – has paid $221,853 in back wages and benefits to 32 employees for violating requirements of the Contract Work Hours and Safety Standards Act (CWHSSA) and the Davis-Bacon and Related Acts (DBRA). The violations occurred while the employees were working at the Savannah Harbor Expansion Project.

WASHINGTON, DC – U.S. Secretary of Labor Eugene Scalia issued the following statement regarding President Donald J. Trump’s State of the Union Address:

“Three years ago, President Trump entered the Oval Office with a promise to bring back jobs and prosperity for the American worker. Tonight, the President reminded us that he has delivered on that promise. His policies have created an economic boom that is lifting up all Americans.

CAMP HILL, PA – The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has cited Cleveland Brothers Inc. – doing business as CB HYMAC – for exposing workers to hexavalent chromium fumes and other safety hazards at the company’s shop in Camp Hill, Pennsylvania. OSHA cited the company, which provides hydraulic service and repair, machining and chroming services, for one willful violation and 18 serious and two other-than-serious citations. The company faces $280,874 in penalties.

MANCHESTER, NH – After an investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division (WHD), the City of Concord, New Hampshire, paid $9,645 in civil money penalties for violations of the child labor requirements of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) at the Douglas N. Everett Ice Arena, which led to the injury of one minor employee.

WASHINGTON, DC – Today, U.S. Secretary of Labor Eugene Scalia traveled to Norfolk and Virginia Beach, Virginia, to visit a Virginia Career Works job center, to tour the STIHL Incorporated manufacturing facility, and to participate in a roundtable discussion with area business leaders.

NEW YORK, NY – The U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey has sentenced Lawrence Ackerman – a former Bergen County, New Jersey, insurance broker – to six months of imprisonment and six months of home incarceration, and ordered him to pay $1,000,000 in restitution for defrauding the United Auto Workers (UAW) Local 2326 Health and Welfare Fund.

LEVELLAND, TX – After an investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division (WHD), Ricky L. Bryant Ltd. – doing business as Bryant Electric in Levelland, Texas – has paid $44,685 in back wages and an equal amount in liquidated damages to 43 employees for violating the overtime requirements of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA).

NAPLES, FL – After an investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida, Fort Myers Division, has sentenced Stalin Rene Barahona – former owner of the now-dissolved SB Framing Services Inc. in Naples, Florida – to 30 days in prison. Barahona pleaded guilty to one count of willfully violating federal fall protection standards. He will begin serving his sentence on Feb. 26, 2020.

RICHARDSON, TX – After an investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division (WHD), Accelore Group LLC – doing business as Accelore Solutions in Richardson, Texas – has paid $153,755 in back wages to 289 employees to resolve violations of the overtime requirements of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA).

WASHINGTON, DC – U.S. Secretary of Labor Eugene Scalia issued the following statement in recognition of National African American History Month:

“This month we reflect on the African American men and women whose struggles, accomplishments, and dreams are part of our national heritage. And while we remember the past, together we look to a future of opportunity, growth and success for all Americans.

WASHINGTON, DC – Today, President Trump has taken an enormous step forward in the fight against human trafficking by issuing the Combatting Human Trafficking and Online Child Exploitation in the United States Executive Order. This order comes twenty years after the passage of the Trafficking Victims Protection Act, which greatly strengthened federal criminal prohibitions against trafficking and related offenses.

LAS CRUCES, NM - The U.S. Department of Labor, in collaboration with various federal and state agencies, and other stakeholders – including the Small Business Development Center at the Doña Ana Community College in Las Cruces, New Mexico – will host an educational outreach forum on February 11, 2020, for employers and others interested in information and guidance on regulations pertaining to agricultural employment.

PHOENIX, AZ – After an investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division (WHD), Dream Center Education Holdings – a national educational enterprise based in Chandler, Arizona – has paid $411,478 in back wages to 485 employees after missed payroll resulted in minimum wage and overtime violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA).

WASHINGTON, DC – The U.S. Department of Labor announced today that it is accepting employer applications for the 2020 HIRE Vets Medallion Award. The HIRE Vets Award Program recognizes small businesses, non-profit organizations and large companies for their leadership in recruiting, employing and retaining America’s veterans. The application deadline is April 30, 2020.

CONCORD, NH – The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has cited Quartz and Stone Creations of New Hampshire LLC for crushing and other hazards following an employee fatality on July 19, 2019. OSHA cited the Northwood, New Hampshire, stone products manufacturer for 12 serious and six other-than-serious violations, which faces a total of $87,516 in penalties.

MIAMI, FL – Today, U.S. Secretary of Labor Eugene Scalia visited American workers in South Florida to discuss the recently signed United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) and workforce development. Secretary Scalia toured Gaumard Scientific – a manufacturer of medical simulators – and participated in a roundtable discussion with Miami business leaders at the Greater Miami Chamber of Commerce. Additionally, Secretary Scalia heard from students at the Miami Job Corps Center.

DEARBORN HEIGHTS, MI – The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has determined that the Dearborn Heights School District violated whistleblower statutes by unjustly disciplining, publicly discrediting and terminating an employee who reported unsafe working conditions to federal and state agencies.

ARLINGTON, VA – There were 24 mining fatalities in the U.S. in 2019, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) reports. This is the fewest annual fatalities ever recorded, and only the fifth year in MSHA’s 43-year history that mining fatalities were below 30. MSHA is still reviewing two cases of possible chargeable fatalities which, if added would make the total in 2019 the second lowest number of fatalities ever recorded.