A former employee working at the construction site of a new school in Marion County claims he was fired by the company for which he was working in retaliation one day after he raised concerns about an alleged improper crane rigging.
Attorneys representing Jonathan Hamilton filed the lawsuit against Hardhat Workforce Solutions, LLC (HWS), and CCS Mechanical, Inc. (CCS), in the Fifth Judicial Circuit Court of Marion County on October 2.
According to the complaint, Hamilton claims that HWS assigned him to work as a pipe welder for CCS on the construction of Ross Prairie Elementary School, which is located at 14320 SW 70 Ave Road in Ocala.
On January 7, 2025, Hamilton alleges that he arrived at the site and was informed that he and another colleague, identified in the complaint as a “sheet metal worker,” were being asked to perform “crane rigging for the purposes of preparing and securing a cooling tower to be lifted by a crane that was on site.”
Hamilton claims that he objected to the project foreman and the job site safety coordinator that it was “unlawful” for him and his colleague to perform this kind of task without a “qualified person directing and/or assisting them.”
According to the lawsuit, Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) standards deem that crane rigging and assembly must be directed by a “person who meets the criteria for both a competent person and a qualified person, or by a competent person who is assisted by one or more qualified persons.”
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