Death Strikes Construction Company Multiple Times

Another construction worker has died on a Florida DOT project built by Archer Western, a road-building company that has a history of putting its employees at high, and fatal, risk.

In late March, a man fell from the overpass of Interstate 395, landing 20 feet below onto Biscayne Boulevard, according to Lt. Alex Camacho, a spokesperson for the Florida Highway Patrol. The man died at the scene.

History of death

The state highway project at that site is being built by a joint venture between two companies, Archer Western and The de Moya Group. Archer Western had eight of its employees die from 2016 to 2023 — giving it a fatality rate more than double the construction industry average, a Tampa Bay Times investigation found last year.

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All but one of the deaths were in Florida, and at least three of the victims were undocumented immigrants, the Times revealed.

Despite this alarming record, which included multiple federal citations for equipment and training failures, Gov. Ron DeSantis’ administration has continued awarding lucrative contracts to the firm through the Florida DOT.

State money continued to flow

The state knew about at least two of the worker deaths, records show, and alleged in court that Archer Western’s negligence was to blame for one of them — but still kept paying the company millions in public money.

The $866 million project in Miami is funded by the Florida DOT and the Greater Miami Expressway, according to a state website, and includes highway improvements plus a “new signature bridge.”

The late March death was still under investigation as of the end of the month, Camacho said. OSHA recorded the death in its online incident database and listed the corresponding case as "active."

Neither DeSantis’ office nor the Florida DOT responded to emails requesting comment. But the transportation agency told the Miami Herald that it was “deeply saddened” by the death.

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“While construction zones are a high-risk environment, safety is non-negotiable and will not be compromised,” agency spokesperson Maria Rosa Higgins Fallon told the Herald. “FDOT immediately halted all work on this job to ensure the contractor and crews are committed to the highest level of safety possible, as the department demands it on every project.”

She added that the transportation department has “demanded” that the Archer Western-de Moya joint venture fully cooperate with investigating agencies, conduct a thorough internal review and develop a corrective action plan to help prevent future incidents, according to the Herald.

Neither Archer Western nor the de Moya Group responded to emails from the Times asking about the Monday death.

The man who died was identified by family members as 43-year-old Jorge Eliud Galindo Thompson, according to NBC6 Miami. His uncle, Clifford Thompson, told the TV station that their family was “just destroyed” by his loss.

In January, another incident at that same construction site resulted in six workers being injured and hospitalized after a piece of building equipment broke. Some of the workers were thrown 30 feet, while another was trapped.

Federal and legislative efforts

Following the Times investigation, which published in October, elected officials from both parties called on the state to act. At the time, Archer Western was under federal investigation for its history of hiring workers in the country illegally, and 19 former workers had been indicted for using other people’s Social Security numbers to get hired.

For more than two years, investigators dug into what leaders of the company knew to see if Archer Western had “a pattern or practice of hiring illegal aliens,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Chris Murray said during one court hearing.

But that probe, conducted by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, plus several other federal agencies and the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, has since been closed. The Times has requested records related to the shuttered investigation from both the state and federal government, but neither has provided them.

This year, Republican lawmakers in Florida filed an immigration crackdown bill that would have included penalties for companies that hire people without permanent legal status who get hurt on the job, requiring employers to pay for the medical bills.

The bill died earlier in March when the legislative session ended.

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