CLEVELAND — Two managers of an Ohio manufacturing company have been indicted by a federal grand jury in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio for their alleged attempts to obstruct a federal agency's investigation into the workplace death of a company worker.
According to the U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), Extrudex Aluminum Inc.'s managers Brian Carder and Paul Love gave false statements to an OSHA investigator after the workplace death of one of its employees. An OSHA investigation found the employee's fatal injuries were due to a rack with hot aluminum parts tipping over that then pinned the worker. Another employee received severe burns from the accident, OSHA said.
OSHA also alleges Carder and Love did not abide by OSHA's requests for emails that were sent from employees to managers regarding safety concerns about the company's racks and rollers. Carder and Love also are accused of telling employees their jobs would be in jeopardy if they did not change their previous emails about the company's safety issues, according to OSHA.
"The grand jury's action makes clear that misleading federal investigators and intimidating employees will not be tolerated," said OSHA deputy assistant secretary Loren Sweatt in a statement.
According to OSHA, Carder and Love were charged with conspiracy to obstruct justice, obstruction of justice and obstruction of proceedings. Love also faces charges for lying to law enforcement, the agency said.