A Washington state company that was cited after a 16-year-old worker was catastrophically injured on a construction site in the summer of 2023 is now also facing child labor law violations in connection with the incident, the Washington State Department of Labor & Industries said Tuesday.
The department said Vancouver-based Rotschy LLC has been issued an additional $51,800 in fines on top of the $156,259 it was previously issued over an incident in which the teen worker lost both of his legs after he was dragged underneath the blade of a walk-behind trencher during a job in La Center.
The general contractor was cited for a willful serious violation for allowing workers to operate equipment without training or experience. The new violations allege that the company broke laws designed to protect minor workers, according to the department.
The company was cited for denying minor workers meal breaks, employing minors for more hours than legally permitted during a school day, and starting a teen’s workday before 5 a.m., the department stated.