Workplace
Asian slave labor producing prawns for supermarkets in US, UK
Slaves forced to work for no pay for years at a time under threat of extreme violence are being used in Asia in the production of seafood sold by major US, British and other European retailers, the Guardian can reveal. A six-month investigation has established that large numbers of men bought and sold like animals and held…
Read MoreTaxpayers face big Medicare tab for unusual doctor billings
More than 2,300 providers – doctors, nurses, physician assistants – earned $500,000 or more from Medicare in 2012 from a single procedure or service, according to a Wall Street Journal analysis of the data. A few of those providers, including an internist in Los Angeles and a dermatologist in Port St. Lucie, Fla., collected more…
Read MoreConvicted murderer Jimmy Dac Ho had history of abuse, violence, documents show
Before he was handed a badge and a gun as a police officer for Florida Atlantic University, Jimmy Dac Ho was no stranger to trouble in South Florida. Fired from the Broward Sheriff’s Office in 2004 after a violent fight with his wife, Ho spent two years trying to get another job as a police…
Read MoreMaintenance workers for troubled public housing system reaped thousands of dollars from dubious overtime
The Center for Investigative Reporting has uncovered more problems in Richmond, California’s public housing system. Two maintenance workers, who also live in public housing, were found to have double-billed for tasks, billed for more hours than were worked and charged overtime during their regularly-scheduled shifts. Overtime paid to the two workers totaled more than $125,000 over four years.…
Read MoreMilwaukee County jail guard stalked, videotaped female co-workers
When former Milwaukee County jail guard Aron Arvelo was charged recently with two felonies accusing him of secretly recording female co-workers, it wasn’t the first time he had run into trouble for harassing women. Just 2 1/2 years earlier, officials tried unsuccessfully to fire Arvelo after he was caught stalking a co-worker. But a five-member…
Read MoreDocuments show Iowa offered hush money to ex-employee
The Iowa Department of Administrative Services explicitly offered $6,500 to a former state employee last year in exchange for her secrecy, according to documents obtained by the Des Moines Register. The documents include a March 6, 2013, e-mail in which Department of Administrative Services attorney Ryan Lamb writes to an attorney representing former employee Carol…
Read MoreAlabama prison guards charged with sex crimes
Guards and other employees at Alabama’s Julia Tutwiler Prison for Women accused in a U.S. Department of Justice report of demeaning, harassing and sexually abusing inmates typically pleaded guilty to lesser crimes, an AL.com examination of court records found.
Read MoreVirginia Beach Public Works Director keeps job while on military leave
The head of Virginia Beach’s second-largest department hasn’t been to work in nearly three years and keeps volunteering for military service instead of returning to his $150,000-a-year job. Since deploying in June 2011 – days after a city auditor’s report recommended that he be fired – Public Works Director Jason Cosby has become vested in…
Read MoreMassachusetts and secret payoffs
For years, the state has used confidential settlement and severance deals to make embarrassing problems go away, often requiring workers to promise to keep the payments secret and avoid saying anything critical about the agencies. When the Globe first asked for copies of all the pacts worth at least $10,000 statewide, it took a four-year…
Read MoreIn Philippines, workers toil among hazards in compressor mining
“The job is hazardous, the returns are paltry and they say their work is illegal. But that doesn’t stop the miners – mostly adults and some children – from diving into the mud to find gold,” The Center for Investigative Reporting writes. Read the full story here.
Read More