ALBA EXPLOITS - Construction & General Building Laborers' Local 79

Alba Services
January 2025

Andrew Horan’s Alba Services is associated with demolition and asbestos removal companies that include Alba Carting & Demolition, Alba Environmental, Volk Industrial Services, Caledonia Carting, Arc Contracting, and Compac Industries 2. These companies exploit immigrant workers and pose a financial and reputational risk to the developers and construction companies that contract with them. Horan and the companies face allegations of misconduct regarding their labor practices, regulatory compliance, adequate insurance coverage, and safety standards.

Guilty Plea in Multimillion Dollar Construction Kickback and Bribery Scheme

On January 18, 2023, the Manhattan District Attorney named Alba Services, its owner Andrew Horan, and VP Kieran Ferguson among the defendants and co-conspirators in a multimillion dollar construction kickback and bribery scheme indictment. Andrew Horan caused Alba to pay over $200,000 to entities tied to the scheme’s ringleader and an unnamed individual, according to the Statement of Facts released by the Manhattan DA’s office. These payments were part of a kickback scheme to manipulate the bidding process for co-conspirator subcontractors in which Alba allegedly obtained subcontracts and change orders worth over $2,750,000 on two projects and stole over $50,000 from a developer. On August 5, 2024, Alba Services, Andrew Horan, and Kieran Ferguson pled guilty to the crime of criminal facilitation as part of the case.

Workers’ Compensation Debarment

Caledonia Carting was debarred from public work by the NYS Workers’ Compensation Board (WCB) for one year starting in October 2022. The WCB previously debarred Alba Services from May 2017 to May 2018.

Workers’ Compensation Penalty for Misclassification

The NYS Workers’ Compensation Board (WCB) penalized Alba Environmental $35,000 for “misrepresentation/misclassification of payroll” for two non-compliance periods in 2018. The NYS WCB investigation report of Alba Environmental said, “it appears the employer has intentionally, and willfully, concealed and/or misrepresented the nature of all work, or employee duties, to evade paying the proper cost of workers’ compensation insurance.” The report found that Alba Environmental listed workers as class code 8601 (engineer or architect consulting) at $.48 per $100 of payroll instead of class code 5473 (asbestos) at $26.19 per $100 of payroll.

Unpaid Insurance Premiums

In 2021 Alba Services, Caledonia Carting, and Arc Contracting were all sued by the New York State Insurance Fund (“NYSIF”) for breach of contract due to unpaid workers’ compensation premiums. NYSIF alleged that it was owed unpaid premiums in the amount of $1.4 million from Alba Services (2013-2016), $1.9 million from Caledonia Carting (2016-2018), and $206,085 from Arc Contracting (2017-2019). Judgements have been filed against Caledonia for $2.5 million and Arc for $240,651. Alba Services and NYSIF signed a stipulation of settlement for $500,000 on August 30, 2023 with a clause stating that the NYSIF is authorized to enter a judgment for the full premium amount currently due of $1.4 million in the case of default.
Court records show that the misclassification of demolition workers as cleaning crew was a consideration in both the Alba and Caledonia cases. The lawyer for the NYSIF writes in court documents that Alba “has not shown they are entitled to the cleaners classification.”
In 2023, Alba Environmental was sued by the New York State Insurance Fund (NYSIF) for breach of contract due to unpaid workers’ compensation premiums. NYSIF alleged that it was owed unpaid premiums in the amount of $634,980. In September 2023, Alba Environmental settled the case for $388,000.
In January 2024, a court judgement in the amount of $1,223,552 was entered against Caledonia Carting in a lawsuit brought by Redwood Fire and Casualty Insurance Co for non-payment of insurance premiums.

Worker Intimidation and Potential Fraud

Alba’s retaliatory practices may intimidate workers from filing Workers’ Compensation claims for work-related injuries. Avoiding workers’ compensation claims artificially reduces the cost of insurance coverage for an employer, exposes insurers to unknown risks, and creates an uncompetitive market for compliant employers.
Alba issued a bounty against former employees with workers’ compensation cases. This has a chilling effect on other workers pursuing their right to workers compensation, especially considering the largely immigrant workforce employed by Alba. This bounty was posted at job sites, listing by name twenty-two workers, and offering $5,000 for information leading to their arrest and conviction. After a February 2022 rally protesting the use of bounties, three Alba workers alleged they were denied work for their participation in the rally.

$1.5 Million Wage Theft Settlement and New Wage Theft Lawsuits

In May 2017, workers filed a Fair Labor Standards Act class action lawsuit against Alba for failure to pay the correct overtime rate. Workers describe being paid “off-the-books” for any hours worked over forty in cash or personal check at a straight time rate. During the course of the lawsuit, one worker described being fired out of retaliation by Andrew Horan for participating as a plaintiff. Alba Services and Andrew Horan agreed to pay up to $1.5 million in a class and collective action settlement approved by Judge Debra Freeman on March 2, 2021.
In April 2023, a lawsuit was filed against Alba Carting & Demolition and Caledonia Carting Services alleging unpaid overtime wages and that the defendants willfully failed to supply accurate wage statements. The lawsuit also claimed that the immigrant plaintiff was paid less than coworkers who were U.S. citizens and that the defendants violated state and city Human Rights Law through a hostile work environment perpetrated by supervisors against the plaintiff on the basis of citizenship or immigration status.
In November 2024 an FLSA class action lawsuit was filed against Alba Carting & Demolition, Alba Services Inc, Arc Contracting, and Andrew Horan alleging unpaid wages due to time shaving and unlawful rounding. The named plaintiff alleged that he was required to work before and after clocking out and during his lunch break, but was only paid for his scheduled shift, not for all hours actually worked. The defendants signed a proposed settlement agreement submitted for court approval on December 19, 2024, in which they agreed to pay up to $700,000 to class members through a settlement fund.

National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) Case

In January 2021, a former Alba employee filed a complaint with the NLRB after being reproached and fired for speaking to a union organizer. An administrative judge at the NLRB found that Alba Services violated the law by unlawfully firing the worker for speaking to the union, unlawfully interrogating him about his contacts with the Union, and unlawfully directing union representatives to not speak with Alba workers about the Union.
New NLRB charges were filed against Alba alleging the company, through its attorney, before the NLRB trial intimidated the worker’s participation in the NLRB case by intimating that testifying against the Company would result in criminal liability for him and necessitated he be “Mirandized.” Alba settled the unfair labor practice charge by agreeing to communicate to the worker and all Alba workers that “it will not threaten any reprisals including threats to pursue civil or criminal prosecution” for individuals participating in NLRB proceedings.

Safety & Environmental Concerns

Alba has a history of unsafe working conditions and practices on multiple job sites. For example, an accident in March 2022 at 171 Calyer Street, Brooklyn was particularly brutal. Two workers were injured in a fall while cutting a beam. In May 2023, the lawyer for one of the injured workers verified that the worker remained hospitalized and bed-ridden after suffering injuries from the fall including a coma, spine fracture, broken teeth and severe brain injury. Alba was issued violations from the Department of Buildings and OSHA following the accident, including for failing to ensure the injured worker had received a site safety orientation. On top of that a lack of adequate insurance coverage also seems to have been an issue as owners and general contractors of the project in a lawsuit have claimed “Alba breached its agreement and failed to provide and maintain” contractually obligated insurance.
On April 22, 2021, the New York City Department of Sanitation issued a penalty against Alba Carting & Demolition Inc. for illegally dumping construction debris. Alba’s truck was impounded. The New York City Department of Buildings also issued a ticket against Alba Services for using unacceptable backfill.
On June 18, 2021, an Alba Services’ excavator fell through the first floor of a building being demolished by the company.
In November 2021, a worker sued Alba and Caledonia for retaliation, claiming he lost his job after complaining about endangerment to his health and safety about the presence of asbestos while cutting steel beams and that he was not given a proper respirator mask.
In March 2022, Alba Services’ employees requested work injury logs and reports from Alba. Construction employers like Alba are required by OSHA to maintain and provide these records at the request of workers. Alba received a Citation and Notification of Penalty for failing to provide the records and was subsequently issued a violation and penalty by OSHA.
In August 2020, Alba Services was issued two serious and one repeat violations by OSHA with $51,000 in penalties when an employee was hospitalized after falling approximately 15 feet through a floor hole. The inspection found that this was a repeat violation for Alba, the floor covers were unsecured, and the worker’s lifeline was not protected.