Pennsylvania Employers Sentenced for Workers' Compensation Violations

May 31, 2006
Employers in Pennsylvania's Adams and York counties have been sentenced for failing to maintain workers' compensation coverage for employees.

The Department of Labor & Industry said Phillip Bryan Harris, owner of Talex Inc., doing business as Whispering Pines Assisted Living in York Springs, Pa., was sentenced to 5 years in the intermediate punishment program, ordered to pay the costs of prosecution and more than $100 in fines for failing to carry workers' compensation insurance.

Harris pleaded guilty to five third-degree misdemeanor counts before Adams County Court of Common Pleas Judge John D. Kuhn. Whispering Pines Assisted Living now is in compliance with the Pennsylvania Workers' Compensation Act.

In York County, Common Pleas Judge Sheryl A. Dorney sentenced Ronald Waltersdorff, owner of Ronald Waltersdorff Electric of York, Pa., to serve 5 years probation, pay costs of prosecution, perform 50 hours of community service and pay restitution in the amount of $13,633 to an injured employee after Waltersdorff pleaded guilty to a third-degree misdemeanor for failing to carry workers' compensation insurance.

Ronald Waltersdorff Electric is now in compliance with the Workers' Compensation Act.

According to Pennsylvania's Workers' Compensation Act, it is a criminal offense for an employer not to carry workers' compensation liability insurance. Each day's violation is classified as a separate offense as either a third-degree misdemeanor, or, if intentional, a third-degree felony.

About the Author

Sandy Smith

Sandy Smith is the former content director of EHS Today, and is currently the EHSQ content & community lead at Intelex Technologies Inc. She has written about occupational safety and health and environmental issues since 1990.

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