Construction Firm Sentence for New York Worker’s Death: Pay for Public Announcements

A construction company convicted in the death of a worker in a New York trench collapse has been sentenced to fund a series of worker safety public service announcements.

But an attorney for Harco Construction LLC told a judge Wednesday it won’t comply, saying the sentence violates its First Amendment rights and would be an admission of wrongdoing.

The judge then imposed a $10,000 fine if the company doesn’t comply with the sentence.

Harco was convicted of criminally negligent homicide and reckless endangerment in the April 2015 death of Carlos Moncayo. The Ecuadorean immigrant died when a 14-foot trench caved in at a Manhattan building site.

The company plans to appeal the conviction.

Criminal cases are pending against an excavation subcontractor and two people.