Federal judge orders N.J. contractor to pay $2M in fines
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A federal administrative law judge has found a Palisades Park, New Jersey, contractor personally liable for $2 million in penalties assessed by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration in a ruling that was filed on Tuesday.
The judge granted the Department of Labor’s motion for summary judgment against Juan Quevedo-Garcia, owner and principal of BB Frame LLC, following five OSHA inspections at four Bergen County worksites beginning in December 2019.
From the five inspections, OSHA identified eight willful, 10 repeat and 12 serious violations for hazards that included failure to use fall, head and eye protection; unsafe use of stepladders; scaffolding, housekeeping and fire safety deficiencies; lack of stair rails and lack of forklift training.
For the 30 violations, OSHA proposed a total of $2,004,225 in penalties against BB Frame, and Mr. Quevedo-Garcia individually, who contested the citations, prompting the department to file complaints with the Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission on Aug. 27, 2020.
In a summary judgment ruled on Feb. 25 and filed March 8, the judge found that Mr. Quevedo-Garcia “dominated BB Frame and abused its corporate form to circumvent the OSH Act,” therefore holding Quevedo-Garcia “personally liable for the company’s violations and resulting penalties is necessary to prevent the continued or renewed circumvention of the OSH Act and avoidance of the Act’s expressed legislative purpose and policy,” court documents state.
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