Florida firm faked workers’ comp coverage
- The owner of a maintenance company in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, is facing criminal charges after the state said he wasn’t carrying the required workers’ compensation insurance.
- The company, Total Maintenance, had contracts with three area municipalities and the investigator said the owner sent them falsified proof of coverage.
- Edward Galbraith, the owner of the company, had a workers’ compensation exemption which was applied for in 1995.
- The records from CCAS indicated Galbraith’s workers’ compensation exemption had no expiration date.”
Fire raised safety concerns at NYC warehouse
- OSHA is investigating Amazon.com Inc. over allegedly retaliating against employees who raised safety concerns after a fire at the company’s unionized warehouse in New York City.
- Federal investigators are trying to determine whether Amazon retaliated against employees who complained to management “about the safety of the working environment following the fire,
- The investigation was opened after 21 complaints were filed with OSHA.
- Workers wanted to go home with pay following the fire because they felt unsafe.
North Carolina town cited for violations
- The town of Waynesville in North Carolina was cited for a federal safety violation when a public works crew failed to properly secure a trench when repairing a sewer line.
- An anonymous tip led OSHA to make a visit to the worksite.
- Crews are replacing a section of the old sewer line and are digging up one section at a time, replacing the line, and refilling.
- The inspector found an open trench that wasn’t shored up with a trench box.
Fraud in Texas
- A district court judge has convicted HSC International Ltd. of a second-degree felony in a scheme to defraud Texas Mutual Insurance Company.
- From 2014 until 2016, the janitorial company, owned by Hyong Su Choi, provided false payroll numbers to avoid paying proper premiums for workers’ compensation coverage.
- The corporation pleaded guilty to the felony conviction and will pay $180,000.00 in restitution.
- The workers’ compensation system is participant-funded, and when a bad actor defrauds the system, it impacts everyone,” said DWC’s Deputy Commissioner of Compliance and Investigations, Debra Knight.