ALJ Home Improvement Inc.
Outcome
Company founder Jose Lema pleaded guilty in February 2024 to criminal OSHA charges after a second worker died in a fatal fall in 2022, three years after a first worker died at a 2019 company site.
Details
ALJ Home Improvement Inc. — Repeat Fatal Falls / Willful OSHA Violations (2019–2024)
Outcome: Company founder Jose Lema pleaded guilty in February 2024 to criminal OSHA charges after a second worker died in a fatal fall in 2022, three years after a first worker died at a 2019 company site; OSHA proposed $1.3 million in penalties.
ALJ Home Improvement Inc., a residential roofing contractor operating in the New York metropolitan area, compiled one of the most documented patterns of fall-protection non-compliance in recent OSHA enforcement history. The sequence began in February 2019 when a company employee died after falling at a Kiamesha Lake, New York worksite. OSHA inspected the company and issued citations, but ALJ continued operating without correcting the underlying hazards.
On February 8, 2022, a second ALJ worker fell from the roof of a three-story residential construction project in Spring Valley, New York. The worker died from injuries sustained in the fall. OSHA opened an inspection that same day and ultimately cited the company for nine willful violations and three serious violations stemming from the fatal fall. In total, OSHA had inspected ALJ Home Improvement Inc. at least ten times since 2019 and issued fall-related citations on multiple occasions before the second fatality.
In August 2022, an OSHA compliance officer conducting a separate inspection at a Ho-Ho-Kus, New Jersey residential site directly observed multiple ALJ workers on a steep-slope roof with no fall protection in place. That inspection yielded additional egregious willful citations and a proposed penalty of $687,536, which the company eventually stopped contesting in March 2024.
The U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York filed criminal charges against company founder and principal Jose Lema in July 2023 under 29 U.S.C. § 666(e), charging one count of willful violation of OSHA regulations resulting in the death of an employee. Lema pleaded guilty in February 2024. The charge carries a maximum sentence of six months in prison and a $250,000 fine.
Primary Source: US Department of Labor proposes $1.3M in penalties for metro-area roofing contractor after second employee suffers fatal fall in 3 years
How Crucible Prevents This
Repeat-violation tracking would flag this company after the 2019 fatality and 10 subsequent OSHA inspections. A compliance posture score would show continuous fall-protection deficiencies across multiple job sites. Pre-project risk screens would have flagged the contractor's history before any new contract award.
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