DME Construction Associates agrees to $600G in penalties in worker's fatal fall in Old Bethpage, feds say

A Long Island roofing contractor has reached a settlement with the U.S. Department of Labor, admitting "willful violations" of Occupational Safety and Health Administration regulations that resulted in a fatal fall of a worker in Old Bethpage in 2021, according to federal officials.

The 55-year-old worker died after falling through an unprotected skylight at a Town of Oyster Bay worksite, the Labor Department announced.

Under the terms of the deal, announced last week, Setauket-based DME Construction Associates Inc. agreed to pay $600,000 in penalties and also agreed to a series of corrective actions, among them: developing a comprehensive written company safety plan, implementation of enhanced abatement measures to improve safety for workers, ensuring and documenting there is enough fall protection equipment for every worker on its job sites and "notifying OSHA of all upcoming jobs at least a week in advance" — that, while permitting "warrantless entry" to OSHA on all sites to ensure compliance.

The agreement also requires all DME supervisors to complete a 30-hour OSHA construction safety training course.

The case involved the fatal fall of the unidentified worker at the Town of Oyster Bay Solid Waste Disposal Complex on Sweet Hollow Road on Aug. 19, 2021. According to an investigation report filed by OSHA, at about 10:45 a.m. the DME employee "fell approximately nineteen feet and was killed by blunt force trauma."

The OSHA investigation found 13 total violations — four serious, nine willful — and hit DME with a potential $1.2 million in penalties.

In its investigative report, OSHA noted: "While replacing metal roof panels on a commercial building, employees worked and walked near a translucent, fiberglass skylight on the north side of the roof that was approximately 18’ 9” above the ground" — also noting the skylight "was covered by a metal roof panel that was not secured."

In its statement detailing the settlement, OSHA said DME Construction Associates and owner Peter Chardon await an April sentencing date after pleading guilty in November to a criminal violation of the Occupational Safety and Health Act related to the incident.

A call to DME and Chardon seeking comment was not immediately returned Monday. It was not immediately clear if either is represented by counsel.

"The settlement affirms all citations issued to DME Construction Associates," OSHA said in its statement on the incident, "including nine willful violations, eight of which were egregious per-instance citations for DME’s failure to provide fall protection for each of the eight employees who worked on the roof."

In February 2022, a statement released by the U.S. Department of Labor's New York City region said that, in addition to its investigation of the 2021 fatal fall, OSHA had cited DME seven times since 2011 for "fall-related hazards, including not providing protections from falls through skylights and from roof edges" — claiming more than $50,000 in unpaid fines.

And in June 2022, Newsday reported Chardon and DME pleaded guilty to insurance fraud and larceny when it “knowingly underreported" its payroll to the State Farm Fire and Casualty Company, resulting in underpaying premiums totaling $231,576 between February 2017 and May 2021, as cited by a joint investigation by the state Offices of the Inspector General and the Suffolk County District Attorney's Office.

That story reported Chardon had pleaded guilty in Suffolk Supreme Court to petit larceny and fifth-degree insurance fraud, while DME pleaded guilty to second-degree grand larceny and second-degree insurance fraud.

As part of that agreement, Chardon and DME agreed to pay the premiums owed to State Farm, as well as more than $65,000 in premium underpayments owed to the New York State Insurance Fund. 

By John Valenti

john.valenti@newsday.com

John Valenti, a Newsday reporter since 1981, has been honored nationally by the Associated Press, Society of the Silurians and National Headliner Awards for investigative, enterprise and breaking news reporting, as well as column writing. He is the author of “Swee'pea,” about New York playground basketball star Lloyd Daniels. His debut crime novel, “For Nothing Is Hidden,” rooted in 1950s Long Island, was released in October 2025.