UNITED STATES
DEPARTMENT OF LABOR

At 11:21 a.m. on January 30, 2021, an employee was working for a landscaping com pany. The employer was an individual who was a sole proprietor. He was not an ar borist or professional tree cutter. He took on odd jobs and hired friends he kne w and paid them in cash. The employer had been hired by a homeowner to remove mu ltiple trees located at a private residence. The employer brought along his frie nd, the employee to help him remove approximately 36 trees. This was their secon d day on the worksite, as they worked there on the previous weekend as well. The Employer had paid the employee in cash the week prior for his work and planned to do the same for the work performed on the weekend of this incident. The emplo yer was cutting down one of the trees from the bottom with a chainsaw. The emplo yee and a coworker were holding a rope that was tied around the top of the tree. They were doing this to guide the tree was it fell. According to the employer a nd the police report, when the tree began to fall, the coworker ran out of the w ay of the tree. The employee, though, somehow did not move out of the way or act ually ran into the tree. He received fatal head trauma injuries. He was was take n to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead. According to the employer, the em ployee had not been provided with and was not wearing any type of head protectio n, such as a hard hat.