State investigation finds 15 violations by Tuftonboro firm with truck in fatal crash

July 23--State investigation finds 15 violations by Tuftonboro firm with truck in fatal crash

By KEVIN LANDRIGAN

New Hampshire Union Leader

July 22. 2018 11:45PM

A white cross is surrounded by hockey sticks and flowers in memory of Benjamin Baldwin, 6, who died when the dump truck in which he was a passenger hit a tree after the right front tire blew out. (BEA LEWIS/CORRESPONDENT FILE)

* Dump truck in fatal that claimed life of driver's grandson had faulty brakes

* Officer witnessed dump truck crash that claimed driver's grandson, 6

-- A state labor investigation found 15 violations of wage, insurance and record-keeping laws at a Tuftonboro trucking company, a probe opened after a 6-year-old passenger died in one of its trucks last May.

The scathing report concluded the company and its owner failed to have workers' compensation insurance, insisted without any legal basis its employees were only unpaid "helpers," failed to keep any records on their hours and wages paid and didn't even have on file Social Security or federal employee identification numbers on the four who did work there.

Ken Merrifield, commissioner of the state Department of Labor, confirmed last month that Middle Road Supply and Rental Inc. of Tuftonboro and Gerry Holmberg, the company's president, were facing an hour-and-wage investigation. The department also looked into Holmberg's report to the NH Department of Employment Security that he didn't have any employees.

Robert O'Blenes Sr., 67, of Ossipee, was driving a 1986 Mack dump truck for Middle Road Supply on May 2 when the right front tire blew sending the 33,000-pound vehicle off Route 28 and into a tree. His grandson, Benjamin Baldwin, was killed and O'Blenes was airlifted and remains hospitalized.

Labor Inspector Rebekah Becker completed a six-week inspection investigation of Middle Road Supply along with H and F Construction that Holmberg also owns and runs.

Middle Road Supply operates a gravel pit that produces loam for landscaping companies, state officials said.

H and F Construction is an excavation and construction business that sometimes rents its equipment to its customers.

"Both companies are controlled by the employer and business operations are often intertwined with one another, making it difficult to establish which company oversees specific work conducted by individuals," Becker wrote in her inspection report.

New Hampshire Department of Labor records show Middle Road Supply and Rental had workers' compensation coverage from May 2014 to May 2015 with Twin City Fire Insurance Company. Part of Hartford Insurance, Twin City notified the state when the company's policy expired.

It is illegal for an employer to run a business without workers' compensation insurance.

Under state law, purposely failing to carry workers' compensation coverage is a felony punishable by 3.5 to 7 years in prison. Employers also can be fined up to $2,500 plus an additional $100 per employee for each day of noncompliance.

The Department of Labor also can petition the Superior Court to bar scofflaws from conducting business in the state until they comply.

Sole-proprietors, partners and self-employed persons are not required to carry workers' compensation on themselves. There's also an exclusion for independent contractors, but Becker in the report said the firms could not claim that classification.

"As sad and unfortunate as this case is, I hope people doing business in New Hampshire realize the importance of having workers' compensation. It protects employees from lost wages and medical bills, and protects employers from civil litigation," Labor Commissioner Merrifield said.

O'Blenes was listed as working for Middle Road Supply, having started work there just before the fatal accident.

According to the inspection report, O'Blenes worked in the pit and drove the dump truck to pick up and deliver loads.

He did not work for the construction business.

The other three listed employees, Bert Allard, William Kelly and Steve Smart were employees of both businesses, Becker concluded in her report.

Allard was listed as "pit support" on the Middle Road Supply business card, clearly demonstrating that he was an employee of the business, Becker concluded.

The other violations were two regarding workers compensation insurance, two on the posting of records, two on wage and hour reports and seven violations for the employment of workers who weren't properly documented.

Holmberg told labor officials there were no written or verbal contracts with anyone who did work for the companies.

"The employer has misrepresented the relationship between the employer and the persons providing services for the benefit of the employer," Becker added in her report.

In June, a state commercial vehicle examiner found the brakes on the dump truck involved in the fatal wreck were out of adjustment and had rusted.

A post-crash inspection report reveals that two out of six brakes on the truck were in such poor condition that it would have been declared unable to be legally driven had it been stopped by a trooper with the Motor Carrier Enforcement Unit.

klandrigan@unionleader.com

Union Leader Correspondent Bea Lewis contributed to this report.

Business Public Safety Tuftonboro

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