Bergen Contractor Fined $2M For 'Flagrant' OSHA Violations

BERGEN COUNTY, NJ — A Palisades Park contractor will pay $2 million in penalties after repeatedly violating workplace safety laws at four Bergen County worksites, officials say.

Juan Quevedo-Garcia is "one of New Jersey's most flagrant violators of federal workplace safety laws," a news release from the U.S. Department of Labor said. Quevedo-Garcia is a resident of Palisades Park and had work sites there, as well as in Cliffside Park and Fort Lee.

The DOL's chief legal officer, Seema Nanda, said the judge's decision sets a precedent and will send a message to other "serial violators."

"Among construction industry employers, Juan Quevedo-Garcia and his shell companies have been the most prominent OSHA scofflaws in New Jersey in the past decade," said Nanda, the Solicitor of Labor.

In 2019, according to the news release, Quevedo-Garcia dissolved a framing company he owned. That company, Frame Q LLC, "racked up over $700,000 in unpaid OSHA penalties for similar prior violations."

Quevedo-Garcia continued to operate under the name BB Frame LLC dba Frame Q, the Department of Labor said.

Over the course of five Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) inspections, agents saw " eight willful, 10 repeat, and 12 serious violations for hazards that included failure to use fall, head and eye protection; unsafe use of stepladders; scaffolding, housekeeping and fire safety deficiencies; lack of stair rails and lack of forklift training."

A federal judge ordered Quevedo-Garcia to pay $2,004,225 for the violations.