Thread: Investigation focuses on Ohio masonry firm

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Investigation focuses on Ohio masonry firm
June 15, 2006
COAL TOWNSHIP — A state Department of Labor and Industry spokesman said the general contractor overseeing work at a Coal Township construction site “voluntarily” stopped work at the site after a Wednesday morning raid by agency inspectors and local law enforcement officers.

“We were there to investigate a complaint that child labor laws were being violated,” Barry Ciccocioppo, press secretary for the Department of Labor and Industry.

The agency’s investigation is focused on the practices of a masonry firm, DW Masonry, hired by the general contractor, Hanlin-Rinaldi Construction. Both firms are based in Columbus, Ohio.

“We were there to investigate a complaint that child labor laws were being violated,” Barry Ciccocioppo, press secretary for the Department of Labor and Industry.

Since the general constractor shut down the site voluntarily, as soon as officials with that business can document that they are following the labor laws, work can resume.

Initial reports suggested that charges arising from the raid could be filed as soon as today. But Mr. Ciccocioppo said it would “unusual” for things to proceed that quickly.

The contractors didn’t have the necessary paperwork for the inspectors to check, he said. So a part of the investigation will have to be devoted to gathering those documents or otherwise determining if the labor laws were violated.

The Labor and Industry inspectors will be checking to see if the child labor laws, minimum wage and overtime rules were followed.

There were reportedly 24 workers at the site when the inspectors arrived, and those workers scattered. Eighteen of the workers were rounded up and interviewed. Three of them were under the age of 18.

Mr. Ciccocioppo said that minors are allowed to work on construction sites as long as they are not operating heavy machinery. They are also limited to eight hours of work a day and 44 hours a week.

While there were allegations that some of the workers at the site may have also lacked documentation to show that they are legal immigrants, any investigation into that matter would be handled by the federal Citizenship and Immigration Service. That agency was not involved in Wednesday’s raid, Northumberland County district attorney Tony Rosini said. Local officials had sought the cooperation of the immigration service, but were told that the federal agency needed two weeks notice to provide personnel.

Local officials were concerned that the contractor would be finished and gone before two weeks passed, so they proceeded without the Citizenship and Immigration Service and instead sought the assistance of the Department of Labor and Industry.

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State settles child labor violation
By Eric Mayes
The Daily Item
August 02, 2006
SUNBURY — An Ohio contractor has reportedly agreed to pay a $7,000 fine for violating child labor laws at a construction site in Coal Township and a second company has been charged with similar violations.

In the first case, Daniel Workman, owner of D&W Masonry of Columbus, Ohio, faced charges on more than 30 counts after a raid on June 13 at the site along Route 61 across from the Wal-Mart Supercenter.

Officials with the state Department of Labor & Industry alleged that he had three minors working at the site.

"This is the appropriate way to handle these cases," said Northumberland County District Attorney Anthony Rosini. "They should be fined. Unfortunately the fines are small, and they are summary offenses."

The agreement, reportedly reached last week, allowed the charges faced by Mr. Workman personally to be dropped, Mr. Rosini said, with the company paying the fine. Charges were filed June 21 in the office of District Judge John Gembic III.

In addition, a second company, O&H Masonry, also of Columbus, Ohio, faces similar charges with Labor & Industry officials alleging that it too had three minors working illegally at the site.

That case, filed against company owner Omar Hernandez, is still moving forward.

Charges in both cases stemmed from allegations that each company employed minors illegally and that they worked more than eight-hour days between May 30 and June 13, which resulted in 30 counts, one for each day worked by each minor.

The job site was raided after law enforcement officials received a tip that minors and illegal aliens were working there. Several illegal aliens were apprehended, but no charges were filed because the Department of Labor & Industry had no jurisdiction in those cases.

"We could not get Immigration and Customs Enforcement to come out to the site," Mr. Rosini said.

More charges may come out of the incident as officials probe whether D&W Masonry was deducting taxes from its employees' wages, if it were paying overtime and whether the company carried workman's compensation insurance.

The shopping center, which will include 20 stores, is being developed by Timber Development Atlanta, Ga.


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