SAN FRANCISCO – The U.S. Department of Labor has taken action to take away a Central Valley labor contractor’s permit to provide agricultural workers to local growers following a series of safety violations that culminated in 2015 with a vehicle accident that killed four farmworkers.

Employer name: P/M National Inc., 201 Grotzinger Road, St. Marys, Pennsylvania

Citations issued: On Feb. 27, 2016, The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration issued citations for one willful and five serious violations.

Employers: Elizabeth Homes Adult Residential Care, owned by Elizabeth G. Santos, Inc.

Sites: 7161 Stanton Ave., Buena Park, California (main office)
18 other facilities throughout Orange County

Employer name: Catanzaro & Sons Enterprise, doing business as CATCO Demolition Services
10 Gregory Drive, Montville, New Jersey

Site: Newark Liberty International Airport, 14 Brewster Road, Newark, New Jersey

Citations issued: On Feb. 24, 2016, the U.S. Department of Labor Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s Parsippany Area Office issued a citation for one willful violation.

LA BELLE, Mo. – For the third time since 2012, federal investigators have cited Sharpe Holdings in the death of an employee. The most recent casualty was a 51-year-old equipment operator, who suffered serious head injuries after was ejected from the rear of a van on Sept. 26, 2015. He died the following day.

PORTLAND – For the second time since 2010, the U.S. Department of Labor is suing the same major Pacific Northwest drywall company for failing to pay its workers $800,000 or more in overtime.

Employer name: Autoneum North America Inc.

Inspection site: 1150 N Wynn Road, and 4131 Spartan Drive, Oregon, Ohio

Citations issued: Feb. 25, 2016

Investigation findings: The U.S. Department of Labor Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s Toledo Area Office cited Autoneum North America for one repeat and five serious safety violations.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Just before Thanksgiving, a waste hauling truck struck and killed a 47-year-old worker in a construction work zone near Higginsville. Since 2012, he was one of 35 workers in three Midwestern states that federal safety and health inspectors determined whose death resulted from fatal struck-by vehicle hazards.

Employer name: FPL Food LLC

Investigation site: 1301 New Savannah Road, Augusta, Georgia 30901

Citations issued: The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration issued citations to the employer on Feb. 26 for 15 serious safety violations.

Employers: Four Seasons Vineyard Management Inc., Ridge Vineyards Inc.

Site: Healdsburg, northern Sonoma County, California

HARTFORD, Conn.  – Employees at PCC Structurals-Groton faced the risk of chemical burns, fire, lacerations, amputations, electric shock and other injuries, inspections by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration have found.

Type of Action: Fair Labor Standards Act lawsuit filing

Names of Defendants: Emidio & Sons Inc. and Emidio Piermarini Jr.

Complaint: The U.S. Department of Labor has filed a lawsuit in federal court to recover back wages and an equal, additional amount in liquidated damages for employees at Emidio’s, an Akron restaurant. The suit also seeks an injunction against the company to prevent future FLSA violations. 

Employers name:  S&S Roofing Inc., 2 Self Blvd., Carteret, New Jersey 

Inspection site: 71 Walsh Drive, Parsippany, New Jersey

Citations issued: On Feb. 17, 2016, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration issued citations for one repeat and three serious violations.

NEW YORK – A lawsuit filed by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs alleges that B&H Foto & Electronics Corp. has systematically discriminated against Hispanic employees and female, black and Asian jobseekers at its Brooklyn Navy Yard warehouse.

Employer name: Machinery Maintenance Rebuilders Inc., Houston, Texas

Inspection Site: 6927 Brittmoore Road, Houston

Citations issued: Feb. 24, 2016

Who: U.S. Mine Safety and Health Administration

What: The Mine Safety and Health Administration announced today that federal inspectors issued 138 citations, four orders and one safeguard during special impact inspections conducted at 11 coal mines and six metal and nonmetal mines in January

Where: MSHA conducted special impact inspections at mines in Alabama, Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Illinois, Iowa, Kentucky, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia and West Virginia.

In the week ending February 20, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 272,000, an increase of 10,000 from the previous week's unrevised level of 262,000. The 4-week moving average was 272,000, a decrease of 1,250 from the previous week's unrevised average of 273,250.

ATLANTA – The U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division is conducting a building and heavy construction survey statewide in Alabama. The agency is currently collecting data on wages paid to workers on all active building and heavy construction projects throughout the state from Jan. 1, 2014 to Dec. 31, 2014. This survey is not limited to federally funded construction projects.

CINCINNATI, Ohio ‒ The life of a 53-year-old roofer who died after dropping 40 feet to the ground could have been saved if his employer had provided proper fall protection, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration has found.

LOS ANGELES – The country’s top administrator for remedying and preventing wage violations announced a consent judgment today that requires one of the primary clothing suppliers for Ross Stores, one of the largest off-price retailers in the United States, to pay $212,000 in back wages to employees of its garment subcontractors for minimum wage and overtime violations.