Demolition firm agrees to pay $1.5M to settle claims it hid workplace injuries, ignored sexual harassment reports

"A demolition company has agreed to pay $1.5 million to settle claims that it repeatedly flouted New York's workers' compensation laws, retaliated against injured workers and failed to address reports of sexual harassment. Alba Services, a nonunion demolition subcontractor, must pay $1.4 million to nearly 700 current and former employees, as well as $100,000 to a settlement administrator who will coordinate those payments to employees, New York Attorney General Letitia James announced Tuesday."

"Alba allegedly failed to report hundreds of workplace injuries between 2016 and 2024, which allowed the company to lower its insurance costs. The company also threatened employees who tried to file workers' compensation claims, according to the attorney general's office. The settlement comes after the laborers' union, Local 79, launched a public campaign against the firm in 2022, accusing Alba of offering rewards for information on employees who filed false workers' compensation claims as an intimidation tactic."

"For instance, the firm posted flyers naming workers who filed such claims, accused them of fraud and offered $5,000 for information leading to their arrests, officials said. Andrew Horan, Alba's owner, allegedly sent text messages to his construction foremen, unlawfully naming workers who filed claims and offering cash for information about them. The attorney general's office found the company wrongfully disclosed employees' names on at least 60 occasions."

Alba Services, a nonunion demolition subcontractor, agreed to pay $1.5 million to resolve claims of workers' compensation violations, retaliation and failures to address sexual harassment. The company will pay $1.4 million to nearly 700 current and former employees and $100,000 to a settlement administrator. Between 2016 and 2024 Alba allegedly failed to report hundreds of workplace injuries, lowered its insurance costs, threatened employees who sought compensation, and publicly accused claimants of fraud. Company actions included posting flyers naming claimants, offering cash rewards for information, sending representatives to medical facilities to provide incorrect injury information, and wrongfully disclosing employees' names.

Read at therealdeal.com