Wash. Couple Charged with Denying Workers’ Comp Payments

A Washington couple faces an excess of criminal charges, including the alleged falsification of payroll records to avoid paying workers’ compensation premiums, among others.

Charges have been filed by Clark County prosecutors against Larry J. and Phyllis Ann Brossard, owners of trucking firm Bandit Express. The couple pleaded not guilty. The Brossards are charged with falsifying payroll records to avoid paying over $224,000 in taxes, which included the amount owed for workers’ comp premiums owed for employees of the several companies the Brossards own, including Brossard Excavating and Bumper Boats.

Further investigation revealed the couple was also allegedly growing marijuana.

The ongoing investigation, conducted by Washington’s Department of Labor & Industries (L&I), recently turned up another company owned by the couple. It was reported that an audit of that company revealed that between August 2000 and March 2002 the Brossards knowingly misrepresented to L&I the number of hours worked and the amount of their payroll for drivers working at Bandits Express.

The L&I criminal workers’ comp case is expected to go to trial on July 15.

Clark County Superior Court Judge John Wulle ruled that the marijuana charges against the couple be tried in a separate case. That trial is scheduled for April 15.

The prosecution of the Brossards is part of a stepped-up fraud investigation effort at all levels by the L&I. Between March 1998 and March 2000, the agency conducted 724 audits of unregistered employers who weren’t reporting hours and therefore weren’t contributing to the workers’ comp fund. In the most recent two-year period, ending Feb. 28, 2002, L&I conducted 1,364 audits and assessed more than $5.6 million in premiums.

Other areas of fraud have also received attention. Over the past 12 months, the agency has issued dozens of fraud orders against injured workers who were illegally collecting time-loss benefits. Some of the orders have been to collect payments and penalties as high as $425,000.

And last summer, L&I inspectors and auditors began focusing on residential wood framers who weren’t contributing to the workers’ compensation program. That initiative is about to enter a new phase next month, when L&I appeals to home builders and general contractors to stop doing business with framing subcontractors who aren’t registered and don’t have an up-to-date account with the state’s industrial insurance program.

Topics Workers' Compensation Washington