Federal agencies keep on trucking with hefty fines for breaking laws: $70 million from Honda, $300 million to the EPA – at this rate, we’ll pay off the national debt. (Just kidding.)

Compared to all that, Ashley Furniture’s penalty of $1.7 million seems like pocket change. The global furniture manufacturer, with headquarters in Arcadia, Wisconsin, ran afoul of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration.

According to a Department of Labor press release, OSHA has cited Ashley Furniture for “dozens of violations” at its Arcadia factory. Some resulted in gruesome accidents, including one in July in which an employee lost three fingers while operating a woodworking machine that lacked required safety mechanisms.

OSHA said that the violations were the result of Ashley Furniture’s desire to speed up production at the expense of safety. The company apparently didn’t even prevent machines from accidentally starting while workers were switching out blades. Among “serious” violations, Ashley didn’t adequately train workers on safety procedures and didn’t equip some machines with easily accessible emergency stop buttons.

Ashley Furniture said in a statement to The New York Times that it “strongly disagrees with each and every one of the agency’s assertions and believes the proposed penalties are grossly inappropriate and overzealous.” Secretary of Labor Thomas Perez, though, criticized just that attitude, telling the Times that Ashley has a history of blaming workers themselves for accidents that could have been alleviated with the proper safety mechanisms.

Is That Even Enough?

Notably, OSHA said that bonuses to employees to finish work quickly supported their claim that Ashley was more concerned about profits than employee welfare.

Related Resources:

  • OSHA Too Generous in Cutting Fines, Watchdog Says (Center for Public Integrity)
  • OSHA: Beyond the Politics (Frontline)
  • After Marriott Fine, Hotels Ask FCC to Allow Wi-Fi Jamming (FindLaw’s In House)
  • French Co. Alstom Pleads Guilty, Faces Largest FCPA Fine Ever (FindLaw’s In House)

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