In Comtran Group, Inc. v. U.S. Department of Labor, Case No. 12-10275 (decided July 24, 2013), the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit addressed when a business could be sanctioned for knowingly violating a federal safety standard. The case specifically addressed this question: If a supervisor violates a standard, is his knowledge imputed to his employer such that the employer can be deemed to have knowingly violated the standard? The case involved a company that installed underground utilities. That work sometimes involved the digging of trenches. That activity is subject to specific regulations to prevent a trench… Read more