A San Francisco contractor and his wife were arraigned yesterday on multiple felony charges accusing them of denying a severely injured worker his benefits and underreporting payroll to both their insurance company and the state for years. Declan McKevitt, 47, and Grace McKevitt, 54, who, according to court records, own and manage An Dun Construction, pleaded not guilty to all charges and were released after posting $40,000 bail each.
San Francisco District Attorney Brooke Jenkins announced the arraignment, saying the pair face charges including insurance fraud, failure to make required contributions, and failure to collect or pay over tax, according to the San Francisco District Attorney’s Office. Declan McKevitt alone faces additional charges of discouraging an injured worker from pursuing a workers’ compensation claim, two counts of insurance fraud under California Insurance Code 1871.4(a)(1), and making a false and fraudulent statement to deny compensation. Both defendants denied the allegations.
A Table Saw Accident and a Denial
According to court records, an employee suffered a severely injured hand in a table saw accident that resulted in an amputated finger. Declan McKevitt allegedly denied that the injured worker was employed by An Dun Construction at all, and separately claimed the man was at the jobsite without his knowledge. Court records further allege that McKevitt told the injured worker to deny that the injury was work-related while he was seeking medical care.
Payroll records and witness statements showed the worker had actually been employed by An Dun Construction for about seven months before the injury, court records state. The false denial of employment caused a four-month delay in payment of the benefits owed to him. Under California Insurance Code Section 1871.4, making a false or fraudulent material statement to deny workers’ compensation benefits is a felony punishable by two, three, or five years in state prison and fines up to $150,000 or double the amount defrauded, according to Eisner Gorin LLP.
Payroll and Tax Allegations
Beyond the injury claim itself, court records allege that Declan and Grace McKevitt underreported their payroll to their workers’ compensation insurance company and to the California Employment Development Department. The couple is accused of failing to pay insurance premiums, income tax, payroll tax, and other legally required contributions, per the same court records. They face charges under California Unemployment Insurance Code Sections 2108, 2117.5, and 2118.5, which govern failure to make contributions, acting to evade tax, and failure to collect or pay over tax or other money owed to the state…