Massachusetts Workers' Compensation Lawyer Blog

Senate Bill Would Make Failure to Purchase Workers’ Compensation Insurance a Felony in Massachusetts

Published on: April 19, 2012 | by Pulgini & Norton, LLP

A bill currently before the Massachusetts Senate would make failure to purchase workers’ compensation insurance a felony offense. Senate Bill 915 was reportedly designed to deter companies that do business in Massachusetts from failing to maintain or purchase workers’ compensation coverage. Currently, business owners who fail to purchase coverage in the state may be guilty of a misdemeanor offense that is subject to a maximum fine of $1,500 and up to one year in prison. The proposed law would increase the penalty dramatically. Convicted business owners would face a maximum fine of $10,000 and up to five years in prison.

Massachusetts workers’ compensation laws often provide the only avenue for financial recovery after an on the job injury. Payments made to hurt employees are paid out of a state trust account that is funded by Massachusetts employers who purchase workers’ compensation coverage. If a business owner’s employee is hurt, the worker is paid out of the trust account whether or not the employer has contributed to the fund. According to the Chairman of the Workers Compensation Advisory Council, John Regan, this means other employers are footing the bill for employers who do not purchase workers’ compensation coverage.

Regan and the advisory council have endorsed Senate Bill 915. Others, such as Bill Vernon of the National Federation of Independent Business believe the proposed law may deter job growth in Massachusetts. Vernon claims current penalties are sufficient to keep employers from misclassifying workers in an effort to avoid paying for workers’ compensation insurance. He stated stiffer penalties will definitely hurt business owners who unintentionally misclassify their employees as independent contractors.

Easton, Massachusetts Worker Shot in Chest With Nail Gun

Published on: April 13, 2012 | by Pulgini & Norton, LLP

Last month, a worker at Solar Seal/Shaw in Easton was taken by ambulance to Good Samaritan Hospital after he was shot with a nail gun. According to Chief Kevin Partridge, when the Easton Fire Department responded to an emergency call at the business they found an injured 41-year-old man with a three-inch nail embedded in his chest. Although the cause of the accident is currently under investigation, the man was reportedly assembling a wooden crate around panes of glass prior to transporting them when he was shot with an air-operated nail gun. Once stabilized, the unidentified worker was later taken by helicopter to Boston Medical Center for surgery. The man allegedly suffered from internal damage as a result of the nail gun shooting.

Unfortunately, accidental injuries like this occur frequently in the workplace. After an on the job accident, injured workers may be temporarily unable to work or they may become permanently disabled. Generally, state workers’ compensation laws provide the only recourse available to employees who are hurt while at work in Massachusetts. Sometimes, a third party such as the manufacturer of the nail gun may be held legally responsible for inadequate safety measures or building a dangerous or defective product. If you were hurt in the workplace, an experienced Massachusetts workers’ compensation lawyer can explain your options for recovery.

This incident is the type of serious accident the Occupational Health and Safety Administration (OSHA) will normally investigate. OSHA was created by Congress in 1970 in an effort to reduce worker fatalities and injuries. Employers in the United States are required to follow OSHA workplace safety standards and provide a working environment that is reasonably free from health and safety hazards. The organization also investigates workplace accidents to determine whether an employer contributed to a worker’s injury by failing to adhere to established safety standards.

Plainville Construction Contractor Cited $50,000 Over Fourth Fall Hazard Violation in Less Than Five Years

Published on: April 6, 2012 | by Pulgini & Norton, LLP

The Hartford Area Office of the United States Department of Labor’s Occupational Health and Safety Administration (OSHA) has cited a Plainville, Massachusetts-based construction contractor $50,000 for one repeat fall hazard violation. Shawnlee Construction, LLC was cited after an OSHA inspection revealed employees faced fall hazards of nearly 12 feet at a Montville, Connecticut work site where a new public safety building was being constructed.

OSHA will normally issue a repeat violation when an employer is cited for a substantially similar violation of a regulation, standard, rule, or order within five years after an initial citation. According to OSHA’s Hartford Area Director, Paul Mangiafico, the fine was so large because Shawnlee Construction was previously cited three times in three different states for failing to protect workers from fall hazards within the last five years. The company was previously cited in Rhode Island, Connecticut, and New Hampshire in both 2007 and 2008.

Mangiafico stated protecting workers from fall hazards is paramount because falls are one of the most dangerous and disabling threats to construction employees. If not properly protected, workers may lose their lives or livelihoods in a matter of seconds. Mangiafico also stated effective fall hazard safeguards must be used consistently and without fail by every construction employer.

OSHA Cites Everett Recycling Facility $70,000 for Ten Serious Violations

Published on: March 6, 2012 | by Pulgini & Norton, LLP

An Everett, Massachusetts recycling facility was cited by the United States Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) after two workers were injured last September. OSHA proposed $70,000 in fines for Prolerized New England Co. LLC, which operates publicly as Schnitzer Northeast, for ten purported serious workplace safety violations.

The two workers were allegedly performing maintenance inside of a drum that sorts recycling materials when the drum was set in motion and injured them. After the incident, an OSHA inspection revealed Prolerized New England Co. failed to ensure the machine was deactivated and its power source was locked out prior to allowing employees to climb inside. OSHA also found the company’s lock-out procedures were inadequate and poorly communicated. Additionally, employees were not sufficiently trained on the procedures and the company failed to ensure the procedures were understood by its workers.

According to OSHA, Prolerized New England Co. also failed to protect its employees from a fall hazard, train workers regarding how to perform maintenance in a confined space, and provide employees with a hot work permit for welding inside the machinery. A serious violation is only issued when an employer knew or should have known there was a substantial likelihood that serious physical harm or a fatality would occur. In this case, OSHA proposed the maximum fine for each of the ten violations. OSHA’s area director for Essex and Middlesex counties, Jeffrey Erskine, stated the unexpected start-up of the drum could have killed workers within seconds.

Watertown Roofing Company Admits to Workers’ Compensation Fraud

Published on: February 16, 2012 | by Pulgini & Norton, LLP

Last month, the owners of a Watertown roofing company pleaded guilty to a variety of labor violations including workers’ compensation fraud. Shaun Bryan and Antoinette Capurso-Bryan, both of Newton, admitted to violating prevailing wage laws, misclassifying employees, and committing unemployment and workers’ compensation fraud. Suffolk Superior Court Judge Janet Sanders sentenced Bryan to two years behind bars with the balance suspended for five years and Capurso-Bryan to two years probation and $74,000 in fines. Their company, Newton Contracting Company Inc., was also ordered to pay $150,000 in fines and $100,000 in restitution to Chartis Insurance Agency for workers’ compensation premium evasion. The roofing company and its owners are prohibited from bidding on any public construction projects for a period of five years.

According to the Massachusetts Attorney General’s Office, the roofing company and its owners misclassified millions of dollars worth of subcontractor payroll and failed to pay workers the proper prevailing wage. The company admitted to misclassifying employees as independent contractors which resulted in fewer unemployment contributions and lower workers’ compensation premiums. Prior to entry of their plea agreement, the parties paid restitution to the underpaid employees and the Division of Unemployment Assistance.

An investigation into employment practices at Newton Contracting began in 2008 after the Governor’s Joint Enforcement Task Force on the Underground Economy and Employee Misclassification was alerted to the company’s purported misclassification of its employees. Around the same time, the Massachusetts Attorney General’s Office received complaints Newton Contracting misclassified roofing workers as laborers in order to pay them a lower wage on a Suffolk County Jail contract. A 2009 compliance audit by the Executive Office of Labor and Workforce Development resulted in $52,000 in fines after it was revealed a number of Newton Contracting employees were misclassified as independent contractors. Soon after, a Massachusetts Insurance Fraud Bureau investigation revealed the company misclassified more than $3.4 million in subcontractor payroll.

OSHA Settles with Wilmington Masonry Contractor for $134,000 over Rowes Wharf Safety Violations

Published on: February 11, 2012 | by Pulgini & Norton, LLP

A Wilmington, Massachusetts masonry contractor agreed to pay $134,000 in fines as part of a settlement agreement with the United States Department of Labor (DOL) for purportedly serious and willful violations of workplace safety standards. The company also agreed to take additional steps to protect its workers from fall hazards. In January 2011, NER Construction Management Inc. was cited by the Occupational Health and Safety Administration (OSHA), an arm of the DOL, for a number of safety hazards at Boston’s Rowes Wharf. One of those hazards included a failure to take proper protective measures to keep employees from falling as far as 17 feet.

OSHA’s Braintree Area Office initially proposed to fine the building restoration and masonry contractor $235,500 for three willful, six serious, and two other-than-serious workplace safety violations. A willful violation is issued when an employer shows intentional disregard for workplace safety laws. A serious violation is issued when an employer knew or should have known a dangerous condition which was likely to result in death or serious harm to an employee existed. An other-than-serious violation is one which relates to employee safety, but is unlikely to result in serious injury or death.

As part of the settlement agreement, NER Construction was required to correct all of the safety hazards at the Wharf identified by OSHA and increase overall employee safety at each of the company’s work sites. NER Construction has agreed to perform a comprehensive safety analysis for each job, determine reasonable fall protections, and provide additional employee safety training. The company is also required to submit to OSHA a monthly report regarding safety measures utilized at all of its work sites during the next year and also provide copies of any outside safety audits performed over the next two years.

Massachusetts Workers’ Compensation Lawyer Blog