2 Pittsfield Companies Fined For Hiring Undocumented Workers

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PITTSFIELD, Mass. — Two city companies have been fined for hiring undocumented workers.

Jae's Spice was fined $3,000 and Sampco Inc. was fined $550 as the result of an audit from the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's Homeland Security Investigations.

The audit comprised of reviews of the Form I-9s from employers suspected hiring employees who are not legally allowed to work in the United States. The forms are filled out for every individual an employer hires. A total of 17 state employers were fined for fiscal 2012 for a total of $349,619.

"These settlements serve as a reminder to employers that HSI will continue to hold them accountable for hiring and maintaining a legal and compliant workforce," said Bruce M. Foucart, special agent in charge of HSI Boston, in a statement released on Wednesday. "We encourage employers to take the employment verification process seriously, as we expand the number of audits we are conducting throughout Massachusetts each year. My agency will continue to focus its attention on employers that are knowingly employing illegal workers and will continue to target specific industries and businesses known or alleged to hire illegals."

Fines in Massachusetts:
  • Alliance for Affordable Housing Inc. of Everett, $888.25;
  • Amex Inc. of East Boston,  $70,000;
  • Bread & Company Inc. of Everett, $9,804;
  • Cap Seafood Inc. of New Bedford, $9,804;
  • Danco Retail Food Outlet Inc. of Worcester, $935;
  • Fruitlands Restaurant, Inc., aka Sorrento's Pizza, of Harvard,  $2,805;
  • Jae's Spice of Pittsfield, $3,000;
  • Leechen Restaurant Inc. of Lawrence, $9,441.63;
  • Metropolitan Linen Services Corp. of Everett, $13,635.19;
  • Northern Pelagic Group LLC (NORPEL) of New Bedford, $151,200;
  • Ocean Crest Seafoods of Gloucester, $9,000;
  • Panda House Inc. of Westfield, $4,675;
  • Pier Fish Company Inc. of New Bedford, $2,200;
  • Quality Workforce Inc. of Brockton, $26,881.25;
  • Samar Company Inc. of Stoughton, $33,786.22;
  • Sampco Inc. of Pittsfield, $550; and
  • STAT Products Inc. of Ashland, $1,014.

Tags: federal fines,   ICE,   undocumented workers,   

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North Adams Regional Reopens With Ribbon-Cutting Celebration

By Tammy DanielsiBerkshires Staff

BHS President and CEO Darlene Rodowicz welcomes the gathering to the celebration of the hospital's reopening 10 years to the day it closed. 
NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — The joyful celebration on Thursday at North Adams Regional Hospital was a far cry from the scene 10 years ago when protests and tears marked the facility's closing
 
Hospital officials, local leaders, medical staff, residents and elected officials gathered under a tent on the campus to mark the efforts over the past decade to restore NARH and cut the ribbon officially reopening the 136-year-old medical center. 
 
"This hospital under previous ownership closed its doors. It was a day that was full of tears, anger and fear in the Northern Berkshire community about where and how residents would be able to receive what should be a fundamental right for everyone — access to health care," said Darlene Rodowicz, president and CEO of Berkshire Health Systems. 
 
"Today the historic opportunity to enhance the health and wellness of Northern Berkshire community is here. And we've been waiting for this moment for 10 years. It is the key to keeping in line with our strategic plan which is to increase access and support coordinated county wide system of care." 
 
Berkshire Medical Center in Pittsfield, under the BHS umbrella, purchased the campus and affiliated systems when Northern Berkshire Healthcare declared bankruptcy and closed on March 28, 2014. NBH had been beset by falling admissions, reductions in Medicare and Medicaid payments, and investments that had gone sour leaving it more than $30 million in debt. 
 
BMC was able to reopen the ER as an emergency satellite facility and slowly restored and enhanced medical services including outpatient surgery, imaging, dialysis, pharmacy and physician services. 
 
But it would take a slight tweak in the U.S. Health and Human Services' regulations — thank to U.S. Rep. Richie Neal — to bring back inpatient beds and resurrect North Adams Regional Hospital 
 
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