Illegal activities of Southern Bosses during the week between Friday, February 20, and Friday, February 27
Every day across the south workers are killed on the job, stolen from, discriminated against, or sexually harassed. Sometimes the employers are caught. Here are a couple stories from last week:
Florida KilLers
The U.S. Department of Labor has cited a concrete manufacturer for exposing workers to hazards after an employee suffered fatal injuries after entering the unprotected area of a concrete block cubing machine in July 2025.
The department’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration cited Adonel Concrete Corp. – operating as Adonel Block Manufacturing Corp. – with nine serious violations for inadequate machine guarding, and for failing to ensure lockout/tagout procedures were used, electrical panels were marked and the locking mechanism operational, implement an effective hearing conservation program for workers exposed to high-noise levels, and incorporate silica hazards into the company’s hazard communication program.
OSHA assessed $58,604 in penalties.
Oklahoma Discriminators
Urologic Specialists of Oklahoma, Inc., a medical practice that operates five clinics employing two dozen physicians in Oklahoma, Arkansas and Missouri, will pay $90,000 and furnish other relief to settle a pregnancy and disability discrimination lawsuit brought by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), the federal agency announced today.
According to the EEOC’s suit, in 2023, Urologic Specialists denied reasonable accommodations to a medical assistant at its Tulsa facility during the final trimester of her high-risk pregnancy. Rather than allow the medical assistant to sit, take short breaks, or work part-time, as recommended by her doctor to protect her health and safety, the medical practice forced her to take unpaid leave, refused to guarantee her job when she returned to work following the birth of her child, and refused to guarantee that it would provide breaks for her to express breast milk. When the assistant stated she could not return to work without those guaranteed breaks, Urologic Specialists fired her.
“Federal law provides robust protections for pregnant women and new mothers in the workplace,” said Andrea G. Baran, regional attorney for the EEOC’s St. Louis District. “Employers must follow the law, train their supervisors, and ensure that they provide required accommodations to women who are pregnant or have pregnancy-related disabilities.”
Such alleged conduct violates the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act (PWFA) and the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), which prohibit pregnancy and disability discrimination. The EEOC filed suit in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Oklahoma after first attempting to reach a pre-litigation settlement through its administrative conciliation process.
In addition to the required monetary relief, the four-year consent decree settling the suit obligates Urologic Specialists to designate personnel tasked with ensuring compliance with the PWFA and ADA going forward, adopt strong policies and procedures for the provision of reasonable accommodations for pregnant or disabled employees, and train supervisors and other employees. The decree also requires Urologic Specialists to adopt and use a system to track and maintain all requests for pregnancy or disability accommodations, post a notice to employees about their federal right to be free from pregnancy and disability discrimination, and report periodically to the EEOC.