By: Ty Hyderally, Esq. and Francine Foner, Esq.

In a recent News Release, the United States Department of Labor announced the successful resolution of its aggressive litigation against a New York roofing company for the company’s serious workplace safety violations. According to the DOL, the New York-based company, ALJ Home Improvement (“ALJ”), which performs work in New York, New Jersey and Connecticut, has “an extensive history of fall hazard violations”.

The litigation arose as a result of an August 2022 OSHA inspection conducted at an ALJ residential construction site in Ho-Ho-Kus, New Jersey. The inspector observed multiple employees working on a steep-slope roof without fall protection. OSHA found “violations related to fall protection deficiencies, unsafe ladder use, additional ladder-related hazards and lack of head protection.”  The News Release also noted that the OSHA inspection followed the death of an ALJ employee from a workplace fall in Spring Valley New York less than six months earlier. ALJ founder and principal Jose Lema plead guilty in February 2024 to criminal charges arising out of the incident, filed by the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York in July 2023, for which sentencing is scheduled to take place in May 2024.

As a result of the numerous willful safety violations found in the OSHA inspection, the DOL’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration hit ALJ with penalties totaling $687,536.  The Department then aggressively pursued litigation to enforce the penalties through the Department’s Office of the Solicitor in New York.  On March 1, 2024, a week before trial was scheduled to begin, ALJ withdrew from the case, allowing the Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission to affirm the citations issued by the Department’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration.

As Regional Solicitor Jeffrey S. Rogoff in New York, observed, “Our strong litigation strategy ended ALJ Home Improvement’s attempt to contest OSHA’s findings and allowed the Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission to affirm the company’s per-instance willful citations and a substantial penalty. The Department’s Office of the Solicitor takes seriously its responsibility of holding employers like ALJ Home Improvement accountable for repeatedly disregarding vital safety requirements.”[1]

OSHA Area Director Lisa Levy in Hasbrouck Heights, New Jersey aptly summed up the positive outcome for home improvement workers, stating, “By affirming our investigative findings and upholding ALJ Home Improvement’s penalties, the Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission has sent a clear message to employers whose egregious actions show continuous disregard for worker safety. The message is simple: we will hold you accountable for deliberately putting workers at risk.”

Hopefully this case will encourage companies employing home improvement workers, as well as all employers, to fully comply with OSHA safety regulations.

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[1]  (https://www.dol.gov/newsroom/releases/osha/osha20240321).