The owner of a Missoula, Montana, roofing business faced a large fine and a felony charge for employer misconduct for trying to sweep the truth past the Montana State Fund to keep from paying higher workers’ comp premiums.
Despite having over 300 roofing permits and purchasing over $1 million in roofing supplies, the roofer classified many of his company employees as only doing site “clean ups,” which carries a workers’ comp premium five times lower than for workers doing actual roofing work.
Unfortunately, some of these employees began filing claims for workplace injuries that were clearly related to roofing activities, sending up a red flag to the Montana Department of Justice (DOJ)—and sending its criminal investigators to his company worksites.
The roofer was charged with felony employer misconduct, which has a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison. In a plea deal described in a DOJ press release, the roofer paid $200,000 in restitution to the state, and a judge put him on probation and conditionally deferred his sentencing for 2 years.