My Auto Store agrees to penalties in settling suit over workplace safety violations

CAMDEN – A city firm has agreed to pay almost $900,000 in penalties to settle a dispute with a workplace safety agency.

My Auto Store, which recycles vehicles and sells used parts, also will enact a “comprehensive” safety program under an agreement with the U.S. Department of Labor, the agency has announced.

The settlement resolves a dispute over Labor Department allegations, filed in March 2022, that sought penalties of $1.2 million from the Ferry Avenue business.

The company at that time said it would "vigorously contest" the charges.

The settlement, which contains no admission of wrongdoing, reduces the penalties and the severity of the allegations by the Occupational Health and Safety Administration, noted an attorney for My Auto Store.

“Anything that OSHA was concerned about was abated immediately, or we worked on it with consultants,” said Kenneth Kleinman, a Philadelphia lawyer representing the firm.

“We were able to reach an amicable resolution that was satisfactory to all,” he said.

The business, operated by The Auto Store LLC, is an affiliate of Camden-based EMR.

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It dismantles more than 7,000 cars and trucks each month, the Labor Department said. That provides an inventory of more than 80,000 vehicle parts, sold in Camden, Baltimore, Bayonne and Brooklyn.

The Camden site is part of an EMR complex developed in 2015 with an initial award of state tax incentives worth $252.7 million.

My Auto Store to adopt safety program

The settlement, with penalties of $868,000, affirms 35 citations issued for safety violations, according to a Labor Department statement.

It requires "enhanced programs to protect workers from serious hazards and allows them to provide input and to participate in the company’s safety programs," said Jeffrey Rogoff, an OSHA regional solicitor in New York.

The settlement covers violations that range from a failure to ensure employees could leave the workplace safely, inadequate protections against machine hazards, and the failure to control flammable liquids.

OSHA also identified "insufficient protections from fall, electrical and noise hazards putting employees at risk,” the agency's statement said.

The settlement says an outside consultant is to conduct safety audits at My Auto Store facilities.

And it calls for “multiple avenues for workers to participate in safety efforts without fear of retaliation.”

Jim Walsh is a senior reporter with the Courier-Post, Burlington County Times and The Daily Journal. Email: Jwalsh@cpsj.com.

This article originally appeared on Cherry Hill Courier-Post: My Auto Store resolves OSHA claims of 35 workplace safety violations