US Department of Labor investigation finds Birmingham construction company willfully exposed workers to trench collapse at Bessemer worksite

-
US Department of Labor investigation finds Birmingham construction company willfully exposed workers to trench collapse at Bessemer worksite BIRMINGHAM – A U.S. Department of Labor investigation has found numerous safety hazards at a civil construction employer’s worksite following a trench collapse in Jefferson County. The department’sOccupational Safety and Health Administration investigators found CB&A Construction LLC workers removed and installed drain pipes for Jefferson County under a suspended load, without hard hats, and at the edge of an excavation that lacked protective restraints.OSHA cited CB&A Construction with a willful violation and proposed $170,145 in penalties.CB&A Construction LLC has 15 business days from receipt of its citations and penalties to comply, request an informal conference with OSHA’s area director, or contest the findings before the independent Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission. Penalties and citations may...
Post a Comment

Federal court sentences Florida addiction recovery doctor to prison, to pay $31.3M in restitution after submitting $106M in fraudulent benefits claims

-
Federal court sentences Florida addiction recovery doctor to prison, to pay $31.3M in restitution after submitting $106M in fraudulent benefits claims
WEST PALM BEACH, FL – A federal court in Miami has sentenced the former medical director of a West Palm Beach residential addiction recovery center to prison and ordered more than $31 million in restitution paid as part of a healthcare scheme to obtain reimbursement for $106 million in false claims to more than 80 private insurance companies and federal healthcare benefit programs. The U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida sentenced Mark G. Agresti to 100 months in prison, and 36 months of supervised release. The court also ordered Agresti and his co-defendants to pay $31,041,938 in restitution. The action follows a multi-agency investigation that included the U.S. Department of Labor’s Employee Benefits Security Administration. It determined Agresti, then the medical director of Good Decisions Sober Living, submitted false and medically unnecessary tests for reimbursements to healthcare benefit plans. EBSA investigators found that – between September 2011 and December 2015 – Agresti and Good Decisions Sober Living owner Kenneth Bailynson falsely billed private insurance companies and federal healthcare benefit programs for reimbursement for fluid analysis used to evaluate the addiction recovery center’s residents. The schemes targeted dozens of employer-sponsored plans including the Amtrak Union Benefits Plan, the Bricklayers Insurance and Welfare Fund, and the Construction Workers Trust Fund. The investigation also found Bailynson co-conspired with Stephanie Curran and Matthew Noel who paid kickbacks and bribes to recruit patients from various sober homes in the area such as the Treatment Center of the Palm Beaches and Last Stop, to undergo fluid analysis drug testing at Good Decisions’ lab. As a result of the investigation, the court sentenced Curran and Noel on April 19, 2022, after both pleaded guilty on Feb. 20, 2020, to conspiracy to commit healthcare fraud. Curran was sentenced to 12 months and one day in prison, followed by 36 months of supervised release, and $11,294,277, in restitution with joint and several liability with others involved. Noel was sentenced to 14 months in prison, followed by 36 months of supervised release, and $8,673,925, in restitution with joint and several liability with the others involved. Bailynson was sentenced on April 20, 2022, to 72 months in prison, followed by 36 months of supervised release, and was ordered to pay $31,041,938 in restitution on June 24, 2022. He pleaded guilty on Nov. 8, 2021, to conspiracy to commit healthcare fraud. “Healthcare fraud erodes public trust and raises the cost of health insurance for all Americans,” said Acting Assistant Secretary for Employee Benefits Security Ali Khawar. “People who scheme to defraud healthcare plans and the companies that sponsor them increase the costs for everyone and may make it more difficult for people who need these services – to improve their physical and mental health – to obtain them. Today’s outcome demonstrates that the U.S. Department of Labor and its federal partners in enforcement will hold people like this accountable.” Good Decisions Sober Living in West Palm Beach claimed to be a residential recovery facility with the mission to provide a safe and drug-free home for people while they recover from alcohol and substance abuse disorders. The joint investigation was undertaken by the department’s Employee Benefits Security Administration, the FBI, IRS and the Department of Justice. Learn more about EBSA. 

Published at June 26, 2022 at 05:00PM
Read more at https://dol.gov

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Settlement affirms willful OSHA violations, $215K penalties, against contractors for fall hazards at multiple New Jersey work sites

-
Settlement affirms willful OSHA violations, $215K penalties, against contractors for fall hazards at multiple New Jersey work sites HASBROUCK HEIGHTS, NJ – Two related North Jersey construction contractor companies – Primetime Construction LLC and its subsidiary Primetime Contractors LLC of Paterson – have agreed to pay $215,000 in penalties and undertake several significant safety measures to resolve numerous safety violations found at five Paterson construction worksites in 2021, as part of a settlement with the U.S. Department of Labor.The department’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration initially cited Primetime Contractors LLC for four willful violations that occurred in September 2021 after agency inspectors found the employer exposing workers to fall hazards by repeatedly failing to ensure construction site stairways at company worksites had handrails and stair rails, even after being counseled by OSHA about the relevant safety requirements. Primetime Contrac...
Read more

St. Louis contractor faces $258K in fines after exposing roofing workers to potentially deadly fall hazards 5 times in 7 weeks at Wentzville worksites

-
St. Louis contractor faces $258K in fines after exposing roofing workers to potentially deadly fall hazards 5 times in 7 weeks at Wentzville worksites ST. LOUIS – Federal workplace safety inspectors have cited a Missouri roofing contractor for 21 violations for illegally exposing roof workers — five times in seven weeks — at six Wentzville residential worksites to the dangers of fall hazards, the construction industry’s leading cause of serious injuries and death. The Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration opened its investigations after observing 13 Construction & Pro Services LLC allowing its employees to work on roofs without required protection equipment at separate sites on Oct. 31, Nov. 2 and Dec. 14, 2023.Specifically, OSHA alleges the company allowed employees to work without protection at heights greater than six feet, did not have a competent person inspect and evaluate job site hazards daily and failed to train workers to recognize ...
Read more

Department of Labor encourages construction industry employers, stakeholders to join 2024 National Safety Stand-Down to Prevent Falls

-
Department of Labor encourages construction industry employers, stakeholders to join 2024 National Safety Stand-Down to Prevent Falls WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration is encouraging construction industry employers and workers across the nation to take part in its 11th annual National Stand-Down to Prevent Falls in Construction from May 6-10. The event focuses attention on preventing the industry’s leading cause of worker deaths.The national stand-down recommends employers and workers pause voluntarily during the workday for safety demonstrations, hazard recognition and fall prevention training, and “tool-box” talks about hazards, protective methods and their company’s safety policies, goals and expectations. This year, OSHA is partnering with Construction Safety Week, an organization of more than 70 national and global construction firms, to enlist employers in the U.S. to create the largest industry-wide cons...
Read more