A new law signed by New York’s governor raises minimum felony criminal penalties for workers’ deaths or serious injuries to $500,000.
That’s up from $10,000, which was the highest penalty allowed by N.Y. law in such cases.
A misdemeanor criminal conviction in a worker’s death or serious injury now comes with a $300,000 minimum penalty – up from a maximum of $5,000 – after Governor Kathy Hochul signed Carlos’ Law on December 23.
The law is named for 22-year-old Carlos Moncayo who was killed in a trench collapse in New York City in 2015. The construction companies found guilty in the case had to pay a criminal fine of $10,000 each – the maximum under state law at the time. The low financial penalties outraged workers’ advocates as well as some prosecutors and lawmakers in the state.
Carlos’ Law now requires criminal penalties of at least $300,000 for a misdemeanor and $500,000 for a felony conviction for a worker’s death or serious injury when a company is found guilty of criminal corporate liability. The corporation is subject to the penalty when it “negligently, recklessly, intentionally or knowingly causes the death or serious physical injury of its employees while they are on the job,” according to Hochul’s office.
The new law also expands the definition of employees to subcontractors and day laborers.
"Carlos' Law will now force construction firms to value workers' well-being, instead of writing off serious workplace injuries as a cost of doing business,” says state assembly member Rodneyse Bichotte Hermelyn, a sponsor of the bill.
