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 few stories from last week:
Alabama Killers
The U.S. Department of Labor has cited a Huntsville-based home builder with eight serious safety violations after an investigation into a worker’s fatality in December 2025 found the employer exposed construction workers to multiple safety hazards during groundwork prep.
Investigators with the department’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration learned that workers for Breland Homes Inc. were installing a sewage drainpipe in a Madison County subdivision when a trench collapsed on a construction laborer.
OSHA concluded that Breland Homes had allowed the decedent to work in an unprotected and unsupported section of the trench. In addition, OSHA found multiple safety violations, including failure to train workers to recognize unsafe conditions in trenching, allowing workers to conduct duties without protective helmets, and permitting employees to conduct work with a damaged ladder.
OSHA cited Breland Homes Inc. with eight serious violations and proposed $115,855 in penalties.
Breland Homes Inc. 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 be adjusted throughout the course of the case process. Please check the OSHA establishment search page periodically for any changes in the inspection or penalty status.
tennessee thieves
The U.S. Department of Labor has recovered $30,442 in back wages for a former university auditor whose employer violated their rights to protected leave.
Investigators with the department’s Wage and Hour Division found the University of Tennessee forced an auditor to resign after they requested to use protected leave for a qualifying health condition under the Family and Medical Leave Act. While the employee was on approved intermittent leave, the university told the employee they needed to resign or they would be fired.
The investigators also determined the employer failed to supply its employees with a complete policy that provided information about employee rights and responsibilities under the FMLA.
In addition to providing leave in certain circumstances, employers are required to inform employees that they may be eligible for FMLA leave within five business days of learning their requests could qualify. Employers must also:
- Reinstate workers to the same or equivalent positions after taking FMLA leave.
- Record, maintain, and calculate the amount of FMLA leave taken.
- Provide notice of FMLA rights and responsibilities, as required by law.
- Designate leave as FMLA-qualifying when appropriate.
Texas thieves
The U.S. Department of Labor has recovered $77,523 in back wages for 12 workers employed by an Austin restaurant that failed to pay overtime wages required under federal law.
The department’s Wage and Hour Division investigated Grand Buffet Paradise LLC, which operates as Buffet Palace, and found that the employer paid kitchen staff straight salaries for all hours worked but failed to pay additional half-time premiums for overtime hours. The Fair Labor Standards Act mandates that employers pay employees overtime pay at not less than time and one-half the employee’s regular rate of pay for all hours worked over 40 in a workweek.
“Food service employees frequently work long hours under challenging conditions and deserve all of their hard-earned wages,” said Wage and Hour Division District Director Charles Frasier in Austin. “Employers are encouraged to contact us for assistance to ensure their pay practices comply with the law.”