Department of Labor News

OSHA Fines Idaho Company Over Natural Gas Explosion

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration has fined a Lewiston, Idaho construction company for its role in a natural gas explosion in downtown Lewiston last November. The Lewiston Tribune reported OSHA cited M.L. Albright and Sons for failing to anticipate …

Alcohol Discrimination Ruling Upheld In Montana Inmate’s Death

A state hearings officer has upheld a ruling that Blaine and Hill counties showed discriminatory indifference toward an 18-year-old inmate in the Hill County Detention Center who died in 2009 of acute alcohol withdrawal. The order by Department of Labor …

Federal Healthcare Law to Aid Black Lung Victims

Proposed changes to U.S. Department of Labor rules would make it easier for coal miners and their families to obtain black lung benefits, while a West Virginia congressman aims to reduce the amount of paperwork they have to fill out …

Google Captive in Hawaii on Track

Web search giant Google Inc. has been granted tentative approval from the Department of Labor to form a captive insurance company in Hawaii to cover employee benefits for thousands of the Mountain View, Calif.-based web giant’s U.S. workforce. The tentative …

Farmers Insurance to Pay $1.5M in Labor Settlement

Los Angeles-based Farmers Insurance Inc. has agreed to pay $1.52 million in overtime back wages to 3,459 employees following an investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division that disclosed significant and systemic violations of the federal …