After Worker Deaths, Wayland Company Faces $1.3M Fine

WAYLAND, MA — The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) wants a Wayland company to pay a $1.3 million fine following the deaths of two workers in Boston this winter, according to the agency.

An Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) investigation found 28 violations made by Atlantic Coast Utilities. The company was previously investigated for violations and racked up over $150,000 in fines — and those have gone unpaid, according to OSHA.

In 2008, the company's owner, Laurence Moloney, paid $300,000 in fines after pleading guilty to failing to pay correct wages, according to the Boston Globe.

Jordy Alexander Castaneda Romero, 27, and Juan Carlos Figueroa Gutierrez, 33, died in February at a jobsite in Boston. Romero and Gutierrez were knocked into a nine-foot-deep trench along High Street by a construction vehicle.

"Two hardworking people lost their lives because Atlantic Coast Utilities put its own profits over workers' safety and health," former Boston mayor and U.S. Secretary of Labor Marty Walsh said in a news release. "The failure of employers to follow federal safety and health regulations designed to keep workers out of harm's way is absolutely unacceptable."