New York Attorney General Letitia James announced today a $1.4 million settlement with Alba Services, Inc., which repeatedly violated state workers’ compensation by failing to report workplace accidents for 675 largely immigrant construction workers.
Alba’s owner, Andrew Horan, and a network of related New York City construction and demolition companies, were found by the attorney general’s office to have not only repeatedly violated state workers’ compensation laws, but also retaliated against injured workers. The demolition company also failed to address numerous incidents of sexual harassment in the workplace, according to the attorney general.
“Today, I am proud to deliver more than $1.4 million to workers harmed by this misconduct,” James said in a statement shared with Documented. “We have made sure that Alba can no longer threaten, intimidate, or exploit its workforce. My office will never allow companies to cheat workers out of their rights or create hostile workplaces that endanger their safety and dignity.”
According to the attorney general’s office, between 2016 and 2024, Alba failed to report hundreds of workplace injuries to the Workers’ Compensation Board as required by law. Instead, management explicitly instructed workers not to file claims. Some workers who filed claims said that management subjected them to harassment and retaliation.
A referral from Construction & General Building Laborers’ Local 79 to the attorney general’s office prompted the office to begin an investigation in 2022. Following a review of more than 60,000 pages of documents from workers and dozens of witness interviews, investigators claim that Alba interfered with workers’ medical treatment after they were hurt on the job by sending company representatives to accompany injured workers to urgent care centers or hospitals in an effort to cover up how and where the injury occurred.
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Alba also directed injured workers to specific clinics it had agreements with to conceal workplace injuries as not being work-related in an effort to block workers’ compensation claims. In some cases where workers had serious injuries, investigators found that Alba directed them to their preferred urgent care clinics, despite the workers needing emergency room hospital care.
According to the attorney general’s office, none of these clinics have been charged with any crime, as the workers’ compensation law doesn’t prohibit reporting work-related injuries as not work-related.
Of the injuries Alba was legally required to report, the attorney general’s office determined that the company reported less than half. Companies that have high workplace injury rates can face substantial increases in workers’ compensation insurance premiums. By keeping claims artificially low, the attorney general’s office reports that Alba reduced its insurance costs and gained an unfair advantage over competitors in its bidding processes for jobs.
However, in some cases, workers refused to cooperate with Alba and instead filed a workers’ compensation claim on their own. It was found that the company retaliated through harassment, threats, and financial incentives to stay silent. On at least two occasions, the company posted flyers publicly naming workers who had filed claims, accusing them of fraud and offering $5,000 for information leading to their arrests.
“Alba’s misconduct disproportionately harmed immigrant and non-union workers, many
of whom reported intimidation and fear of retaliation when injured,” James said in a statement shared with Documented. “By suppressing claims and discouraging employees from seeking benefits, Alba both cheated its workers and manipulated insurance premiums to cut costs.”
In addition to covering up workplace injuries, the investigation also found that Alba failed to prevent sexual harassment and retaliated against employees who reported misconduct. At least two female workers described repeated instances of harassment by a foreman who sent inappropriate text messages, made unwanted comments on their appearance, and engaged in physical contact.
When the woman rejected the foreman’s advances, she claimed the foreman retaliated against her by assigning her more grueling work. When another female worker attempted to report harassment, she claims her hours were cut until she was ultimately removed from the schedule.
The attorney general’s announcement is only the latest controversy to plague Alba. Between 2019 and 2022, the company received six Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) violations for unsafe working conditions. They also received 21 citations from the NYC Department of Buildings for hazardous worksites. And on one occasion, in 2022, the New York State Department of Labor found that Alba owed $2,500 to one worker in unpaid wages.
In 2021, Alba agreed to settle a $1.5 million class action lawsuit filed in 2017 that alleged the company failed to pay the correct overtime rate. Alba was sued again in 2024 for wage theft in another case. The company agreed to pay up to $700,000 to workers.
Beyond violating workers’ rights, the company has also been charged with corruption. In 2023, the Manhattan District Attorney named Alba Services as a co-conspirator in a multimillion-dollar construction kickback and bribery scheme indictment. The indictment alleged that Alba’s owner, Horan, paid $200,000 in kickbacks to an executive at a construction management firm to manipulate a competitive bidding process so they could secure $2,750,000 in contracts.
As part of the settlement with the attorney general, Alba is required to fire the foreman accused of sexual harassment and adopt a comprehensive anti-harassment policy and training. The company is also required to pay $1.4 million in restitution to approximately 675 employees injured between 2016 and 2024.
Alba will also pay an additional $100,000 for an independent settlement administrator. All mandatory anti-harassment trainings must be conducted biannually in English, Spanish, and Russian, and the company must submit to three years of oversight by the AG’s office, with the option to extend monitoring to six years if violations persist.
Alba must also file biannual reports to the attorney general’s office documenting compliance with workers’ compensation and human rights laws. Eligible workers will be able to file claims through the settlement administrator once it is announced. The fund will provide compensation to individuals who may have lost wages, faced medical expenses, had delayed medical treatment, been deterred from filing a workers’ compensation claim, or endured retaliation after workplace injuries.
你知道吗？非公民办理驾照时的这个错误可能会导致选民欺诈
“Alba Services and their family of companies played the system for years while hard-working demolition workers struggled,” said Anthony Vita, business manager with Local 79, in a statement to Documented. “This settlement isn’t just about Alba; it is about non-union workers throughout the City who suffer under similar circumstances. This is an important step in leveling the playing field for responsible contractors.”
Horan did not respond to a request for comment prior to publication time.
New Yorkers who believe they have been victims of labor law violations or workplace sexual harassment can contact the Attorney General’s office by filing a confidential complaint online or calling (212) 416-8700.
Update October 21, 2025: This story has been updated to reflect that the owner of Alba Services Inc. did not respond to a request for comment.
