March 02--A federal appellate court banned an Elk Grove contractor from reopening his firm or opening a new sewer and water company after failing to pay fines for exposing employees to dangerous excavation hazards, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration said Monday.
Mike Neri Sewer and Water Contractor was fined more than $110,000 in 2013 after inspectors found six safety violations at two work sites in Des Plaines. OSHA said the company failed to protect workers from cave-ins during trenching operations and called two of the violations "willful" because they were committed with intentional, knowing or voluntary disregard for the law's requirement or with plain indifference to worker safety and health.
Willful violations can carry a fine of up to $70,000, depending on the company's size. The company had previously been cited for similar violations in 2009 and 2011. The business closed in 2013, according to court documents.
OSHA said the company's owner, Mike Neri, was uncooperative and refused to pay fines. In 2014, Neri was held in federal jail for 23 days. He was released after posting a personal recognizance bond, OSHA said.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit on Feb. 10 found that though Neri was unable to pay OSHA's fine, he was not absolved from paying it. It also prohibited Neri from "owning, leaving, obtaining or in any way possessing any excavation equipment for use in construction."
OSHA said the court allows the agency to try to collect the fine.
Mary Higgins Judge, an attorney representing Neri, said Neri dug ditches at construction sites for more than 45 years and hired an employee when he couldn't handle projects by himself. Neri, 79, was arrested shortly after suffering a heart attack, she said. He was accused of ignoring court orders that were returned to the court and the Department of Labor un-delivered, she said.
"(Neri) was a poster child for the (Department of Labor) to show off their might," Higgins Judge said in a statement.
acancino@TribPub.com
