Former Columbia, Cumberland County Employers Sentenced for Workers' Compensation Violations

HARRISBURG, Pa., March 7 -- Former business owners in Columbia and Cumberland counties have been ordered to pay more than $113,840 in fines and restitution for failing to maintain workers' compensation coverage on employees.

The Department of Labor & Industry's Bureau of Workers' Compensation compliance unit today said Sally K. Hook, owner of the former Sissy Pooh's, Berwick, pled guilty before Columbia County Court of Common Pleas Judge Thomas A. James to a third-degree misdemeanor for failing to carry the insurance.

Hook was sentenced to pay $77,741 in restitution to an employee who was injured while on the job, and more than $1,000 in fines and fees. In addition, Hook will participate in the Community Services Program for a period of time determined by the Columbia County Probation Office.

In Cumberland County, Common Pleas Judge Edgar B. Bayley sentenced George A. Montemayor, former owner of Big Dog Auto Sales, Inc., Carlisle, to make restitution in the amount of $17,498, and pay more than $17,500 in fines and fees, and undergo a period of supervised probation for 12 months, after he pled guilty to five counts of a third-degree misdemeanor for failing to carry workers' compensation insurance.

Section 305 of the Pennsylvania Workers' Compensation Act specifies that an employer's failure to insure its workers' compensation liability is a criminal offense, and classifies each day's violation as a separate offense; either a third-degree misdemeanor, or, if intentional, a third-degree felony.