New York Paralegal Blog

Grove City, OH – A Delaware-based company, Fabcon Precast LLC, has been sentenced to pay the maximum statutory fine of $500,000 after pleading guilty to a willful violation of federal workplace safety standards that led to the death of an employee. The sentencing, handed down in a federal court, also includes two years of organizational probation and the implementation of a comprehensive Safety Compliance Plan. The case stems from a tragic incident on June 6, 2020, at Fabcon's Grove City, Ohio, manufacturing facility. Zachary Ledbetter, a batch operator, was fatally injured when a pneumatic door on a concrete mixer closed on his head. According to court documents, a critical safety feature on the mixer, an exhaust valve designed to release pneumatic pressure and render the door inoperable during cleaning and maintenance, was broken. The handle for this valve had been missing for some time and was never replaced by the company. On the day of the incident, Mr. Ledbetter was attempti...

BATESVILLE, Miss. — The U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration has issued 33 citations to the Parker Hannifin Corp. plant in Batesville, alleging numerous safety and health violations as the result of an inspection that began November 2010. Proposed penalties total $487,700. Cleveland, Ohio-based Parker Hannifin has 170 facilities throughout the U.S. and manufactures machinery for hydraulics, air conditioning, refrigeration and aerospace systems. OSHA issued 16 repeat citations with $407,000 in fines. Fifteen are safety-related and cover such violations as allowing the air pressure to exceed more than 30 pounds per square inch for cleaning equipment, failing to conduct periodic inspections of the lockout/tagout process in place to prevent accidental energy start-up, failing to train workers on lockout/tagout procedures, failing to unblock exit doors and routes, failing to provide machine guarding and failing to correct electrical deficiencies. On...

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit rejected a challenge by the National Roofing Contractors Association to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration's December 2010 directive on the use of fall protection in residential construction. The directive withdrew an earlier one that allowed certain residential construction employers to bypass some fall protection requirements. "Fall protection saves lives," said OSHA Assistant Secretary Dr. David Michaels. "There are effective means available to protect residential construction workers from falls. We applaud the court's decision upholding this updated, commonsense directive." Data from the department's Bureau of Labor Statistics estimates that an average of 40 workers are killed each year as a result of falls from residential roofs. One-third of those deaths represent Latino workers, who often lack sufficient access to safety information and protections. Latino workers co...

BISMARCK, N.D. — The U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration has cited North Central Farmers Elevator in Ipswich, S.D., with six willful violations for exposing workers to being engulfed by grain. Proposed penalties total $378,000. "It's fortunate that the North Central Farmers Elevator worker who was engulfed survived — because many don't. Grain entrapments are killing workers. Grain elevator owners and operators must implement well-known safety practices to prevent workers from being hurt or killed in a grain bin," said Assistant Secretary of Labor for OSHA Dr. David Michaels.

The U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has ordered Southern Air Inc., a Norwalk, Conn.-based air cargo carrier, to withdraw a lawsuit it filed against nine former employees and pay them more than $7.9 million in wages, damages and legal fees. Southern Air filed a defamation lawsuit against the former employees in Connecticut Superior Court in May 2008 after some of the workers raised air carrier safety concerns with Southern Air, OSHA and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). The workers, all former flight crew members, subsequently filed a whistleblower complaint with OSHA. OSHA's investigation found that the company's lawsuit was filed in retaliation for the workers' protected activities under the whistleblower provisions of the Wendell H. Ford Aviation Investment and Reform Act for the 21st Century (AIR21). "This order sends a strong and clear message that these and other workers have the right to raise safety is...