Illegal activities of Southern Bosses for the weeks between Friday, January 10, and Friday, January 17
Important Note
The way that we’ve been compiling this newsletter over the years has been pretty simple: we’ve checked federal agencies tasked with enforcing worker protection laws and included their press releases about instances where they’ve begun or concluded enforcement actions against law violating employers. Agencies like the Department of Labor (DOL), and divisions within it like the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA, the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA), the Wage and Hour Division (WHD), the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and others. We’ve occasionally included stories from the news, but the news, in our experience, has rarely captured instances of this sort before the government enforcement agencies do.
We’re going to continue doing this, but I just want to note that it’s possible this will no longer be a viable option in the Trump era. On Friday, the Department of Labor announced that they were ceasing and desisting all enforcement related to Executive Order 11246, which Donald Trump rescinded. That EO, in place since the 60s, included reporting requirements that helped the DOL identify potential episodes of discrimination. Of course, the entire EEOC is undoubtedly in Trump’s crosshairs. And enforcement of other worker protection laws is likely to see decreased vigor. You’ll notice there are significantly fewer stories this week than last week, although I won’t pretend that there weren’t some weeks in previous years with this few stories, and undoubtedly many teams across these agencies wanted to try to wrap up as many cases as possible before the transition. Time will only tell, with respect to how much these enforcement actions will slow down.
We stand in solidarity with the civil servants whose jobs are under attack by the Trump administration, and who are trying to weather the storm to continue serving the American worker. We unironically and wholeheartedly thank you for your service.
Here’s hoping they will be able to continue effectively serving the public over the next four years.
Alabama Killer
Federal workplace safety investigators found that a Decatur manufacturer of GE-brand appliances failed to follow required machine standards that could have prevented a 58-year-old front-line supervisor’s fatal injuries while trying to service a door molding machine.
Inspectors with the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration opened an investigation of the July 2024 incident at Haier US Appliance Solutions Inc. and found the company allowed workers to bypass the machine’s safety doors and did not use required procedures to prevent employee injuries in the carousel-like machine.
“Haier US Appliance Solutions could have avoided this tragedy but put production schedules and profit ahead of employee safety,” said OSHA Area Office Director Joel Batiz in Birmingham, Alabama. “This company’s troubling history of safety failures in its manufacturing process has posed a significant risk to the more than 1,500 workers at its Decatur location who rely on a safe and healthy workplace.”
OSHA cited the company, which operates as GE Appliances, for one willful violation for failing to follow lockout/tagout procedures to de-energize the machine before allowing service or maintenance. Inspectors also cited Haier for two serious violations for permitting employees to bypass interlocking safety doors to gain access to the machine and for not maintaining annual inspections for lockout/tagout procedures.
The company faces $193,585 in proposed penalties, the maximum that OSHA can legally recommend.
This incident continues a history of 40 safety inspections dating back to 2016 at two Haier US Appliance Solutions’ manufacturing facilities in Louisville, Kentucky, and in Decatur. These inspections included many machine safety violations, including two repeated and two serious violations of lockout/tagout requirements cited after a 55-year-old worker’s fatality in Louisville in February 2019.
Alabama Discriminators
Delaware-based TCI of Alabama, LLC, a recycler of large items such as transformers and electrical equipment, violated federal employment laws when it discriminated against female job applicants in its Pell City, Alabama, location, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) alleged in a lawsuit filed today.
The EEOC charged that since at least August 1, 2020, TCI has discriminated against a class of female employees by systemically denying them laborer positions because of their sex. The EEOC further alleges that TCI carried out this discrimination by instructing multiple staffing agencies not to place or refer females for TCI’s laborer positions.
Such conduct violates Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits employers from discriminating based on sex. The EEOC filed suit in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Alabama (EEOC v. TCI of Alabama, LLC, Civil Action No. 4:25-cv-00089-SGC) after attempting to reach a pre-litigation settlement through its conciliation process. The EEOC seeks monetary damages including back pay, compensatory damages, and punitive damages for the class as well as injunctive relief designed to prevent such unlawful conduct in the future.
“The EEOC prioritizes cases where the agency can efficiently and effectively serve the public interest by addressing widespread discrimination,” said EEOC Chair Charlotte A. Burrows. “This case demonstrates that even today, many women still face barriers to obtaining jobs traditionally held by men. Employers cannot deny job opportunities to women based on sex, and the EEOC will not hesitate to act if they do so.”
EEOC Birmingham District Director Bradley Anderson said, “Addressing discriminatory hiring barriers based on sex or any other unlawful consideration is a strategic enforcement priority of the EEOC. When employers construct such barriers to equal employment opportunity, the EEOC will work to strike them down.”
Marsha Rucker, regional attorney for the EEOC’s Birmingham District, said, “Since 1964, federal law has expressly prohibited employers from denying employment opportunities to female workers because of their sex. When employers choose to ignore this law and deny employment opportunities to women—whether directly or through third-party staffing agencies—the EEOC will vigorously defend the promise of equal employment opportunity.”
Louisiana Thieves
The U.S. Department of Labor has recovered $319,065 in back wages for 49 workers employed by a New Orleans landscaping company that misclassified them as independent contractors and, by doing so, denied them overtime pay.
The department’s Wage and Hour Division determined Pfefferle Lawns violated the Fair Labor Standards Act by failing to pay overtime at time and one-half an employee’s rate of pay for hours over 40 in a workweek and not keeping accurate records.
“Misclassification of employees as independent contractors is not legal or fair. It deprives workers of their hard-earned wages, benefits and protections,” said Wage and Hour Division District Director Troy Mouton in New Orleans. “Companies that misclassify employees also usually deny them workplace rights and benefits, including overtime pay, and they also enjoy an unfair competitive advantage over other companies that comply with law.”
Workers can use the Wage and Hour Division’s Workers Owed Wages search tool to check if they are owed back wages collected by the division. Employers and workers can contact the division confidentially for help at its toll-free number, 1-866-4-US-WAGE (487-9243), regardless of where they are from. The division can speak with callers in more than 200 languages. Workers and employers alike can help ensure hours worked and pay are accurate by downloading the department’s Android and iOS Timesheet App for free in English or Spanish.
Union Busters
Brought to you by LaborLab: The nation’s leading watchdog standing with working families to stop employer coercion and intimidation. Visit www.laborlab.us for more info.
- Quesos La Ricura (Hicksville, NY) hired LRI Consulting Services for $425/hour – no NLRB case found
- Environmental Noise Control (Gardena, CA) hired Labor Management Associates for $325/hour – no NLRB case found
- It appears that the business license for this union busting firm may be expired
- Despite not having an active business license, this firm has been contracted by dozens of companies, including big names like the Hershey Company
- Farmer Companies (Rancho Cordova, CA) hired Labor Consulting Group for $395/hour – election lost by union
- Environmental Air Systems (High Point, NC) hired Labor Consulting Group for $425/hour – election lost by union
In addition, the following LM-20s were amended:
- Grocery Delivery E-Services USA (DBA HelloFresh) hired Logic Labor Relations who sub-contracted The Tally Consultancy; Logic charged $3,500/day, of which $2,626/day was given to The Tally Consultancy
- Amazon DII4 hired Larry Wold who added his compensation rate of $250/hour
Amazon DCH8 hired Alfred Roger Lacy who added his compensation rate of $2,000/day