Gwinnett firm fined $50K in teen worker’s death

The death of a 15-year-old worker at a demolition site last year came back to haunt his former employer on Tuesday.

The U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division announced it has fined a Suwanee-based demolition company, Demon Demo Inc., $53,162 for a child labor violation.

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration recommended an additional penalty of $23,800. OSHA cited seven serious safety lapses on the job site where Luis Montoya, 15, of Lawrenceville, fell to his death.

A spokesperson for Demon Demo did not respond to a request for comment Tuesday.

The fines demonstrate the serious consequences for failing to comply with rules governing the employment of minors, said Secretary of Labor Hilda L. Solis.

“Young workers must be employed safely and legally,” Solis said.

When the accident occurred in November, Montoya was working with demolition crews on the interior of the vacant Macy’s building at Gwinnett Place Mall in Duluth. The old department store was being transformed into an Asian ethnic shopping destination.

Witnesses said Montoya was tossing debris from the third floor to the ground floor when he lost his balance and toppled through an empty escalator shaft. He fell about 40 feet.

Attorney Bill Cromwell, who represents Montoya’s family, said the family is devastated by Montoya’s death.

“They don’t feel fully vindicated,” Cromwell said. “This is a company that received a $50,000 fine, yet this is the third time this company has been in violation.”

OSHA has fined Demon Demo twice before for safety lapses in 2005 and 2008. Both violations involved employees not wearing a “body belt” or safety harness to prevent them from falling when using aerial lifts.

Employees at the job site where Montoya died were not protected from falling, nor were they properly trained to work from heights, OSHA found.

In addition to the child labor violation, the U.S. Department of Labor cited Demon Demo for failing to pay 126 of its workers overtime compensation. The company will have to pay $108,869 in back wages as a result.