Following a previous judgment for summary enforcement, two Florida roofing companies are facing sanctions for failing to pay OSHA penalties.
Great White Construction Inc., Florida Roofing Experts and owner Travis Slaughter built a list of willful and repeat citations for exposing workers to falls. Twenty-five OSHA inspections led to the health and safety violations, and $2,202,049 in penalties was assessed.
"This enforcement action demonstrates that OSHA will use every resource available to ensure that standards are followed and that companies like Great White and Florida Roofing Experts are held accountable when they ignore multiple court orders, do not correct cited violations, and fail to pay penalties," said OSHA’s Regional Administrator Kurt Petermeyer in a statement.
The 11th Circuit Court of Appeals ordered coercive sanctions on June 5, which could include incarceration and other relief the court deems proper for failing to pay the fines.
The court previously held the companies and Slaughter in civil contempt on January 3, ordering the companies and Slaughter to pay the outstanding penalties of $2.2 million plus interest and fees, and requiring them to certify that they had corrected the violations within 10 days of the court’s order. They failed to comply with the order.
Prior to being held in civil contempt, the Department of Labor filed a petition for summary enforcement against the companies and Slaughter, pursuant to Section 11(b) of the Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) Act, with the 11th Circuit Court to enforce the 12 orders, which were granted on Oct. 2, 2017, and June 5, 2018.
The DOL filed a civil contempt petition against the two companies and Slaughter on Aug. 28, 2019 after the companies and Slaughter failed to comply with those orders and for not paying the assessed penalties. According to OSHA, the court appointed a lead to enforce the sanction order and to correct the violations. Slaughter was notified at the time that failure could result in prison time.
