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So your probably reading this Civil Investigative Demand from OSHA about workplace safety violations and your absolutely panicking. Maybe there was a serious accident at your facility. Maybe an employee died and now there investigating for willful violations. Or maybe a disgruntled worker called in a complaint about “unsafe conditions.” Look, we get it. Your TERRIFIED. And you should be! Because willful OSHA violations now carry penalties up to $165,514 PER VIOLATION and if someone died? Your facing CRIMINAL PROSECUTION!
Let me explain the nightmare your facing here. When OSHA issues a Civil Investigative Demand, its not just about fines anymore. There building a case that could destroy your business and put you in federal prison. If an employee died and they prove willful violation, your facing criminal charges under 29 U.S.C. § 666(e)!
The CID means OSHA thinks you violated safety standards and there gathering evidence for enforcement action. But here’s what’s really scary – they coordinate with the Department of Justice now! What starts as an OSHA inspection can quickly become an FBI investigation. We’ve seen safety managers go from thinking they had a citation issue to being arrested for manslaughter!
There gonna demand EVERYTHING: accident reports, safety training records, equipment maintenance logs, internal emails about safety concerns, previous OSHA citations, workers comp claims, safety committee minutes, and any document that mentions workplace hazards. Its a complete colonoscopy of your entire safety program designed to find violations!
Hold onto your hard hat because the numbers are absolutley CRUSHING! Let me break down what your facing:
For willful violations: $11,823 to $165,514 PER VIOLATION. Got 10 willful violations? That’s potentially $1.6 MILLION! For serious violations: up to $16,551 each. Failed to correct violations? $16,551 PER DAY until fixed!
But wait, it gets worse! If someone died, criminal penalties include: 6 months in federal prison (first offense), 1 year in prison (repeat offense), personal fines up to $250,000, and corporate fines up to $500,000. And that’s just federal – state prosecutors are piling on too!
We had a construction company with “only” 15 safety violations. OSHA classified them all as willful because of previous citations. Total penalty? $2.4 MILLION! The owner also got criminaly prosecuted because a worker fell and died. He’s serving 18 months in federal prison right now. His company? Bankrupt. His life? Destroyed. All because of safety violations he thought were “minor”!
Your probably wondering when OSHA violations become criminal. Criminal prosecution requires three elements: violation of an OSHA standard (not the general duty clause), the violation was willful, and the violation caused an employee’s death.
But here’s what’s terrifying – “willful” doesn’t mean you wanted someone to die! It just means you knew about the hazard and ignored it. That safety guard you removed to speed up production? Willful. That training you skipped to save money? Willful. That equipment you didn’t maintain properly? WILLFUL!
State prosecutors are increasingly filing charges even without federal prosecution. We’re seeing manslaughter charges, criminaly negligent homicide, and reckless endangerment prosecutions. One client faced state murder charges after a trench collapse killed two workers!
This will make you sick – EVERYONE in management can be prosecuted! OSHA announced enhanced criminal enforcement targeting supervisors and corporate officers.
Your not just a “company” to OSHA – your an “employer” if you have control over safety conditions. That means: CEOs, safety directors, plant managers, shift supervisors, and foremen can all face personal criminal charges! We’ve seen mid-level managers get prosecuted while owners walked free because the manager had “day-to-day control” over safety!
The worst part? You can’t hide behind the corporate veil. Personal criminal liability attaches to individuals who knew about hazards and didn’t fix them. One safety manager we defended got 6 months in federal prison even though he repeatedly told upper management about the hazards. OSHA said he should have shut down operations himself!
Oh, this is where it gets REALLY scary! State prosecutors are bypassing OSHA entirely and filing criminal charges under state law!
State charges are often MORE severe than federal: manslaughter (5-15 years), criminaly negligent homicide (2-8 years), assault (if workers injured), and reckless endangerment (1-7 years). Plus state prosecutors don’t need to prove OSHA violations – just criminal negligence!
We’re seeing coordinated federal and state prosecutions where defendants face both OSHA criminal charges AND state manslaughter charges for the same incident. Its double jeopardy but courts allow it because there “different sovereigns.” Your literaly being prosecuted twice for the same death!
Here’s something that’ll blow your mind – OSHA criminal penalties are pathetically weak compared to other agencies! Since 1970, only 71 criminal prosecutions with total jail time of 42 MONTHS while 350,000 workers died!
Compare that to EPA: 319 criminal cases in ONE YEAR with 57 YEARS of jail time! This weakness is why state prosecutors are stepping in. There using state murder and manslaughter laws with 10-20 year sentences instead of OSHA’s measly 6 months!
But don’t think weak federal penalties mean your safe! The combination of massive civil penalties, state criminal charges, and civil lawsuits from families destroys companies and executives. We’ve seen total damages exceeding $50 million from single workplace deaths!
STOP! Don’t do ANYTHING until you follow these critical steps:
First, implement an immediate legal hold on ALL documents. That means no destroying anything – not old training records, not outdated safety manuals, NOTHING! OSHA will assume any destroyed documents contained evidence of willful violations. We had a client whose secretary shredded old accident reports during routine cleaning – that became obstruction of justice charges!
Second, don’t talk to OSHA investigators without counsel! Everything you say becomes evidence. “We knew that was dangerous but…” CONFESSION! “We were planning to fix that…” ADMISSION! “Everyone in the industry does it that way…” WILLFUL VIOLATION!
Third, don’t try to “fix” safety issues after getting the CID. OSHA already has photos, employee statements, and documentation. Sudden changes look like consciousness of guilt. One client installed machine guards after a fatality – prosecutors used it as evidence he knew they were needed before!
Unlike other agencies, OSHA has very limited settlement authority, especialy in fatality cases. The Field Operations Manual requires criminal referral evaluation for ALL willful violations causing death.
Sure, you can negotiate penalty amounts for non-criminal violations. But once someone’s dead and willfulness is alleged? There’s almost no negotiation. OSHA refers it to DOJ, and prosecutors smell blood. They want convictions to send a message about workplace safety!
We’ve tried every negotiation tactic: cooperation credit, immediate abatement, enhanced safety programs, voluntary compliance agreements. None of it stops criminal referrals in fatality cases. At best, it might reduce civil penalties from $2 million to $1.5 million – your still destroyed financially!
Buckle up for a long, expensive nightmare. OSHA investigations in fatality cases typically take:
Initial investigation and CID (1-3 months), document review and analysis (3-6 months), employee interviews and depositions (3-6 months), citation issuance (6 months after incident), criminal referral evaluation (runs parallel), and state prosecution decision (varies by state). Your looking at 2-3 years of pure hell!
During this time, your business is paralyzed. Customers flee because of bad publicity. Employees quit because there scared. Insurance companies cancel coverage or jack up premiums. Banks call loans due to “reputational risk.” We’ve seen successful companies become empty shells before prosecutions even begin!
Think workers’ comp protects you from criminal prosecution? THINK AGAIN! Workers’ compensation immunity only covers civil lawsuits from injured employees. It provides ZERO protection from:
OSHA civil penalties, criminal prosecution (federal or state), wrongful death lawsuits in some states, and third-party lawsuits (contractors, visitors). We constantly see employers shocked when there arrested despite having workers’ comp coverage. “But we pay premiums!” doesn’t stop handcuffs!
Look, we’re not your typical employment lawyers who handle discrimination claims. We’re criminal defense attorneys who specialize in keeping executives out of federal prison when workplace accidents turn deadly. We understand both OSHA regulations AND criminal law.
We know how to challenge OSHA’s “willfulness” determinations using there own Field Operations Manual. We can differentiate between isolated employee misconduct and management failures. We understand accident causation and can challenge OSHA’s conclusions. Most importantly, we coordinate defense against simultaneous federal and state prosecutions!
Other firms tell you to cooperate fully with OSHA and hope for leniency. That’s EXACTLY what gets owners and managers sent to prison! We fight back strategically, challenging there evidence, questioning there standards interpretation, and forcing them to prove criminal intent beyond reasonable doubt!
Call us RIGHT NOW at 212-300-5196
OSHA criminal investigations move FAST – don’t wait!
Free consultation – We’ve defended dozens of OSHA criminal cases!
Don’t make the fatal mistake of thinking this is just about safety citations and fines! When employees die, OSHA and DOJ want BLOOD. They want executives in orange jumpsuits to send a message about workplace safety. Every hour you delay getting proper representation is an hour closer to criminal charges!
Remember – your facing an agency that’s been criticized for decades for weak enforcement. Now they’re trying to prove there tough by destroying YOU! Combined with state prosecutors looking for headlines, your facing enemies on multiple fronts. You need someone who knows how to fight this war on all battlefields. Call us NOW before your next visitor is an FBI agent with an arrest warrant!
Very diligent, organized associates; got my case dismissed. Hard working attorneys who can put up with your anxiousness. I was accused of robbing a gemstone dealer. Definitely A law group that lays out all possible options and best alternative routes. Recommended for sure.
- ROBIN, GUN CHARGES ROBIN
NJ CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEYS