School board member charged in workers’ compensation probe

Aug. 05--The state has filed a criminal charge against a member of the Guilford County Board of Education under a law that requires companies to maintain workers' compensation insurance for their employees.

Ed Price of High Point, who represents District 2, was charged with one count of failure to maintain workers' compensation insurance for the more than 60 employees at Ed Price & Associates Realtors.

Price, who now has the insurance, said it "fell through the cracks" during a business reorganization. He is one of five businesspeople in Guilford County who were charged with the misdemeanor under a new investigation program the N.C. Industrial Commission began earlier this year.

Guilford County is the first major area in North Carolina to be spotlighted for this type of proactive enforcement, state officials said.

The program uses information from state databases to flag companies that don't have workers' compensation insurance, which is designed to pay medical expenses for workers who are injured on the job.

Others charged are:

--Andrew Joseph Kane of Tapestries Ltd. in Greensboro.

--Ben Wade Armfield of Carolina Sample Books Inc. in High Point.

--David Rash Thomas Jr. of The Arteri Inc., which does business as The Artery Gallery, in Greensboro.

--Paul Brian Talley of Thrive Alive Inc., which does business as Lotus Lounge in Greensboro.

The state said companies that have three or more employees -- including those operating as corporations, sole proprietorships, limited liability companies and partnerships -- must have workers' compensation insurance or qualify as self-insured employers.

Businesses that don't buy workers' compensation insurance are unfairly avoiding a business expense, state officials said.

Just as important: They're also endangering their employees.

In the end, a company without insurance also is vulnerable to lawsuits if an employee is injured.

"It's a win-win if everybody's in compliance," said Andrew Heath, chairman of the N.C. Industrial Commission. "We're not trying to kick an employer while they're down."

Price said Monday that his company's insurance had expired for several months, but he renewed it once he found out that the policy had lapsed.

"It fell through the cracks," he said. "It's been paid."

Price's company declared bankruptcy in 2013.</p>

"I've never been through this before," he added. "I've run the company for 30 years. It was just an oversight."

He said he doesn't know why the state sent out a press release Monday since the insurance is up-to-date.

Those companies that aren't in compliance could be subject to a fine, said Graham Wilson, deputy director of communications for the N.C. Department of Commerce.

All five people named in the action are expected in court on Sept. 23.

That doesn't mean they'll be prosecuted, Heath said.

"Historically, my folks tell me that the D.A. is inclined to dismiss these charges if these folks can show they'll comply and have insurance," he said.

Assistant District Attorney Howard Neumann said: "Our main goal is not to punish people but to get them into compliance. That certainly would weigh heavily in our making a decision on whether we'll go forward with prosecution or not."

Heath said the state calls the new program NETS -- for Noncompliant Employer Targeting System. State agencies cooperate to spot employers that may be avoiding workers' compensation insurance.

A news release said 36 employers in Guilford initially were identified. In addition to the five who were charged, 19 others were determined to be in compliance, eight had gone out of business, and investigations of four others are pending.

"I'm sure that the warning will get out there that we are paying attention to this issue," Heath said.

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