US Department of Labor sues Jasper Roofing Contractors, CEO for retaliation after employee cooperates with OSHA investigation

US Department of Labor sues Jasper Roofing Contractors, CEO for retaliation after employee cooperates with OSHA investigation
Suit seeks back wages, damages for violations of the OSH Act

TAMPA, Fla. – The U.S. Department of Labor has filed a lawsuit against Jasper Roofing Contractors Inc. and its owner/chief executive officer, Brian Wedding, for terminating their safety manager after he cooperated with a safety and health inspection by the department’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration.

The suit results from an investigation by OSHA’s Whistleblower Protection Program.

Filed on Dec. 28, 2016, in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida, Tampa Division, the lawsuit alleges that Jasper and Wedding discriminated against the safety manager by conducting retaliatory acts, ultimately resulting in termination, after he provided documentation to OSHA regarding the company’s safety compliance and for attempting to improve the safety culture at the roofing company, a violation of Section 11(c) of the Occupational Safety and Health Act.

The suit seeks back wages, interest, compensatory and punitive damages as well as injunctive relief. Additionally, it seeks to have the employee’s personnel records expunged with respect to the matters at issue in this case and to bar Jasper Roofing Contractors against future violations of the OSH Act. The department’s Office of the Solicitor in Atlanta is litigating the case.

“Employees have the right to participate in an Occupational Safety and Health inspection without the fear of retaliation,” said Kurt Petermeyer, OSHA’s regional administrator in Atlanta. “OSHA will continue to hold companies accountable that violate the whistleblower provisions of the OSH Act.”

Founded in 2004, the company has corporate offices in Kennesaw, Georgia as well as offices in Indiana, and multiple locations throughout Florida including Jacksonville, Orlando, Tampa, Fort Myers and Kissimmee. Its parent company, Wedding Holdings, also has subsidiaries in commercial real estate, food service and automotive industries.

OSHA enforces the whistleblower provisions of the OSH Act and 21 other statutes, protecting employees who report violations of various securities, financial services, trucking, airline, nuclear power, pipeline, environmental, rail, maritime, health care, food safety, motor vehicle safety, workplace safety and health regulations, and consumer product safety laws.

Employers are prohibited from retaliating against employees who raise various protected concerns or provide protected information to the employer or to the government. Employees who believe that they have been retaliated against for engaging in protected conduct may file a complaint with the secretary of labor to request an investigation by OSHA’s Whistleblower Protection Program. Detailed information on employee whistleblower rights, including fact sheets, is available at http://www.whistleblowers.gov.

Under the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970, employers are responsible for providing safe and healthful workplaces for their employees. OSHA’s role is to ensure these conditions for America’s working men and women by setting and enforcing standards, and providing training, education and assistance. For more information, visit http://www.osha.gov.

The atmospheric river that landed in the Bay Area yesterday continues to pummel northern California with rain and wind.

CALIFORNIA TODAY JAN. 9, 2017



Storefronts were covered against a deluge in San Anselmo, in Marin County. Credit Jeff Chiu/Associated Press

The rain is back, and it seems to be coming all at once.

A band of dense, airborne moisture from the tropics — known as an atmospheric river — swirled into Northern California on Saturday and was expected to linger through Monday.

In just 48 hours, the system dropped up to four inches of rain across much of the region, with as much as nine inches in the foothills and mountains, where warmer air meant snow fell only at the highest elevations.

At least a dozen rivers were forecast to rise above flood stage by midday Monday. (See videos posted online Sunday of raging waterways, including the Cosumnes River, southeast of Sacramento; the Napa River near St. Helena; and the south fork of the Yuba River in the Tahoe area.) Photo

A view of the Russian River in Healdsburg on Saturday, left, and the same view on Sunday, after sustained rainfall. Credit Joe Garappolo

The authorities reported at least three deaths possibly linked to the storm, all in the Bay Area: a woman struck by a falling tree while out on a walk, a motorist involved in a crash on Interstate 880 in Fremont, and a man whose taxicab was submerged in water near Oakland’s main airport.

Water and mud made many roads impassable, and thousands of people were without electricity.

Reports suggested dozens of trees had been uprooted by ferocious winds. Among them was a treasure: the Pioneer Cabin Tree, also known as the tunnel tree, a giant sequoia that drew visitors at Calaveras Big Trees State Park. 


In a state withered by five years of drought, the drenching of recent days and weeks has made it tempting to wonder if we’re at a turnaround. Photo

A flooded road in Graton, just west of Santa Rosa, on Saturday. Credit Jeff Chiu/Associated Press

But water officials are not making that leap. Much depends on the resilience of the Sierra Nevada snowpack, which acts as California’s largest water storage facility by replenishing depleted rivers and reservoirs after the winter.

The latest data showed the snowpack’s depth roughly equal to its historical average, an encouraging sign. But those gains could be threatened if warm weather melts it too soon.

And while Northern California has seen copious precipitation since the fall, other parts of the state — notably, in the San Joaquin Valley and the Central Coast — remain severely parched.

“Where the drought impacts are strongest, they’re not seeing the bulk of this precipitation,” said Michael Anderson, the state climatologist. “So location matters.”

Redhawk Roofing fined $64K for four repeated safety violations after employees worked at heights up to 23 feet while roofing a residential home in Winnetka without adequate fall protection.

U.S. Department of Labor

January 9, 2017

OSHA finds workers exposed to multiple
fall hazards while roofing Winnetka home

Employer name:

Redhawk Roofing Inc.

Libertyville, Illinois 60048

Inspection site:

865 Gordon Terrace

Winnetka, Illinois 60093

Citations issued: Dec. 16, 2016

Investigation findings: The U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration cited Redhawk Roofing for four repeated safety violations. OSHA initiated an investigation after observing employees working at heights up to 23 feet while roofing a residential home in Winnetka without adequate fall protection.

The agency's October 2016 inspection found the company exposed workers to:

• Fall hazards due to lack of adequate fall protection, improper rigging of fall protection systems and allowing workers to carry loads up ladders.
• Eye injury while operating pneumatic nail guns and electric saws without eye protection.

OSHA cited the company for these hazards previously in 2014 and 2015.

Quote: "Each year, hundreds of workers suffer severe injuries when they fall on the job," said Angeline Loftus, area director of OSHA's Chicago North Office in Des Plaines. "Redhawk Roofing needs to immediately review its safety procedures, and follow OSHA standards to protect workers on the job before disaster strikes."

Proposed Penalties: $63,494

View Citations here.

To ask questions, obtain compliance assistance, file a complaint, or report workplace hospitalizations, fatalities or situations posing imminent danger to workers, the public should call OSHA's toll-free hotline at 800-321-OSHA (6742) or the Chicago North Area Office at (847) 803-4800.

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The Landtek Group Inc., a New York-based general contractor that specializes in sports facility design and construction, faces $197K in fines for safety violations

U.S. Department of Labor

Jan. 9, 2017

OSHA cites New York contractor for exposing workers
to excavation hazards at high school construction site
Contractor faces $197K in fines after complaint leads to inspection

VERONA, N.J. - Acting on a complaint in June 2016, the U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration found employees of one of the area's largest general contractors working in an unprotected 10-foot deep excavation at a suburban New Jersey high school, in violation of federal safety and health laws. OSHA announced today it has issued citations for nine violations - one willful and eight serious - to The Landtek Group Inc., a New York-based general contractor that specializes in sports facility design and construction. The company faces $197,752 in fines as a result.

The citations - issued on Dec. 20, 2016 - follow an OSHA inspection at Verona High School in Verona on June 22, 2016, where the agency found that Landtek allowed its workers to enter and work in an unprotected, 10-foot deep excavation that had no protective systems in place, as required. Landtek is the general contractor for site improvements at Verona High School, including the construction of new tennis courts and synthetic turf fields.

"Without needed protections in place, an excavation can quickly become a grave as thousands of pounds of soil collapse upon workers below ground. The Landtek Group must re-examine its safety procedures and take all available precautions - including installing shoring or other means - to prevent unexpected movement or collapses of the soil that can lead to disaster," said Kris Hoffman, director of OSHA's Parsippany Area Office.

The contractor was cited with a willful violation for exposing workers to cave-in hazards because the excavation lacked proper cave-in protection or safeguards.

OSHA cited serious violations related to Landtek's failure to prevent employee exposures to fall, atmospheric and explosion hazards. The company also failed to:

• Have a competent person inspect the excavation.
• Have a written permit space program.
• Train employees on safely performing their job duties and the hazards associated with them.
• Coordinate rescue and emergency services for workers entering a sewer manhole.
• Provide mechanical retrieval equipment in case of an emergency.

The citations can be viewed at https://www.osha.gov/ooc/citations/TheLandTekGroupInc_1158268.pdf

The employer has 15 business days from receipt of its citations and proposed penalties to comply, request a conference with OSHA's area director or contest the findings before the independent Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission.

OSHA has a national emphasis program on trenching and excavations. The trenching standards require protective systems on trenches deeper than 5 feet, and soil and other materials kept at least 2 feet from the edge of trench.
To ask questions; obtain compliance assistance; file a complaint; or report amputations, eye loss, workplace hospitalizations, fatalities or situations posing imminent danger to workers, the public should call OSHA's toll-free hotline at 800-321-OSHA (6742) or the agency's Parsippany office at 973-263-1003.

Under the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970, employers are responsible for providing safe and healthful workplaces for their employees. OSHA's role is to ensure these conditions for America's working men and women by setting and enforcing standards, and providing training, education and assistance. For more information, visit http://www.osha.gov.

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