HVAC Businesses Can Face Criminal Charges, Just Like Individuals

By: Ted Craig

Chris Carusone and Brionna Denby spoke with The ACHR News about recent criminal charges levied against G&R Drywall and Framing for misclassification of workers. Brionna explained the background of the state attorney general’s program and some of the penalties typically associated with worker misclassification. Chris commented on a prosecutor’s reasoning for bringing criminal, rather than civil, charges against a company.

Can a business commit a crime? Not the owner or employees, but the business itself? More and more often, the answer is, “Yes.”

The owners of a construction company in Delaware County, Pennsylvania, recently learned that the hard way. District Attorney Jack Stollsteimer charged G&R Drywall and Framing with misclassification of its workers. That’s been a criminal offense in Pennsylvania since 2011, but this is the first such prosecution.

It was an outgrowth of a pilot program run jointly by Stollsteimer’s office and the state’s Attorney-General, said attorney Brionna L. Denby of Cohen Seglias, a law firm specializing in construction cases. Denby said misclassification cases are typically enforced through civil actions, with monetary penalties imposed against individuals or businesses.