Chief Financial Officer Jimmy Patronis today announced the recent arrest of Jose Esmelin Martinez and Uzziel Isaias Jaramillo, owners of Esmelin Corporation aka as Esmelin Roofing Contractor (ERC). Martinez and Jaramillo allegedly concealed nearly $1.2 million in payroll on their workers’ compensation policy renewal application in an alleged attempt to illegally lower their premium costs. Click to read more:

If a tree falls in the forest, does it make a sound? Here’s a corollary: If the court decides something but doesn’t issue a written opinion, do we hear about it? Let's look at who/what made news, and who/what did not. Original article no longer available

Fort Lauderdale-based Tom Krips Construction and Lake Worth-based Etherna Services each got cited by OSHA for its role in a crane crushing a worker’s foot and ankle as it was being disassembled in May. This happened during work at Lago-Mar Place, 1750 S. Ocean Ln., in Fort Lauderdale. The Department of Labor announced the proposed fines Friday. Krips got $29,877 in proposed fines for, according to OSHA’s Citation and Notification of Penalty: “failing to follow the disassembly procedures established by the manufacturer;” “employees were under the boom while in the process of removing the pins for disassembly;” and “not providing training on disassembly procedures to the Disassembly Director.” Click here to read more:

Orlando, FL (WorkersCompensation.com) - Chief Financial Officer Jeff Atwater today announced the recent arrest of Leon “Chuy” Jimenez, owner of Chuy Construction Inc. (Chuy Construction) after a fraud investigation revealed that Jimenez allegedly operated a shell construction company for the sole purposes of selling the company's workers' compensation certificate. A shell company conducts no significant business operations and is used as vehicle to conduct fraudulent financial scams, such a workers' compensation fraud. The Department of Financial Services' Bureau of Insurance Fraud received a tip from the Florida Carpenter's Union alleging that Jimenez might be engaged in illegal activity and launched an investigation. Click here to read more:

The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has cited Middleburg-based Southeastern Subcontractors Inc. for failing to protect employees from the dangerous hazards of working outdoors in extreme heat. OSHA investigated the roofing company after an employee died from hyperthermia while working at a residential site in Jacksonville. Hyperthermia occurs when the body’s temperature is abnormally high because it cannot regulate the heat from the environment. The Agency issued one serious citation for exposing employees to heat-related injuries, and one other-than-serious violation for failing to report a workplace fatality to OSHA within 8 hours of its occurrence. The company faces proposed penalties of $22,173. Click to read more:

The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has cited Coastal Roofing Inc. for exposing employees to fall and other hazards at a St. Johns, Florida, worksite. The Jacksonville-based roofing company faces $105,283 in proposed penalties. OSHA investigated the company as part of the Agency's Regional Emphasis Program on Falls in Construction. Coastal Roofing was cited for failing to ensure employees utilized a fall protection system. OSHA also cited the contractor for failing to ensure employees utilized eye protection and not extending a portable ladder 3 feet above the roof landing. OSHA cited the company for similar safety violations in January 2018. "The use of fall protection is not an option – it is a legal requirement that saves lives," said OSHA Jacksonville Acting Area Office Director Michelle Gonzalez. "This company’s continued failure to comply with fall protection standards puts the lives of its employees at risk for serious or fatal injury." Click to read more:

The U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has cited L.A. Disaster Relief and Property Maintenance LLC after an employee suffered burn injuries at a McDavid, Florida, worksite. The property maintenance and land clearing company faces $94,415 in penalties. OSHA investigators determined that the company owner directed the injured employee to ignite wood and debris inside an air burn box using a torch and gasoline, which caused an explosion. OSHA cited the company for failing to implement a hazard communication program to familiarize employees with flammable and combustible dust hazards. Click here to read more:

A Sanford maker of fishing lures got caught not paying an employee money due under a pair of federal acts, the U.S. Department of Labor announced. Labor’s Wage and Hour investigators found Producto Lure didn’t pay an employee two weeks of emergency sick leave after a doctor ordered the employee to self-quarantine for the coronavirus. Producto owed that money under the Families First Coronavirus Response Act, which applies to some public entities and private employers with fewer than 500 people. Wage and Hour also found Producto owed the worker for work done before the self-quarantine, a basic violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act. Click to Read More:

The House Insurance & Banking Subcommittee opened hearings on a 28-page draft bill on workers’s compensation reform Tuesday, as Chairman Danny Burgess urged members and interest groups to “conduct ourselves in good faith — that we not plant our flags on one side or the other and be absolutely inflexible.” Burgess said the draft represents a “fair, comprehensive approach to fixing this problem.” He also conceded: “It’s by no means perfect.” Click here to read more: ​

A Miami woman was arrested in Lake Worth last Thursday after investigators say she defrauded an insurance company out of millions of dollars. ​ Carmen Montalvo-Rivera, 40, was arrested and charged with fraud on the evening of Oct. 27. She was released early Friday morning after posting $47,500 bond. Click here to read more:

A former Miami-Dade County fire inspector was charged Friday with lying to the state when he said he did not make money while collecting workers' compensation benefits. Anthony Dorta, 46, was charged with filing a false and fraudulent insurance claim, a third-degree felony. An investigation by the Miami-Dade inspector general, the Florida department of financial services and the Miami-Dade state attorney's office found that Dorta worked as a handyman while he was supposedly unable to work for the county due to an on-the-job injury to his left knee. Click here to read more:

Florida insurance regulators have ordered another Broward County insurer, Guarantee Insurance Co., to stop writing new business after discovering financial weaknesses. The Fort Lauderdale-based workers compensation provider has been placed under administrative supervision by the Florida Office of Insurance Regulation, according to an Aug. 18 consent order released by the state office. Click here to read more: