AG: Contractor sentenced to jail for duping clients, exposing them to asbestos

Washington state Attorney General Bob Ferguson (Photo by Stephen Brashear/Getty Images)

Attorney General (AG) Bob Ferguson announced Friday that the owner of Above and Beyond Asbestos Removal in Bothell was sentenced to jail time and ordered to pay fines for posing as a licensed expert and exposing his clients to asbestos.

According to the AG Ferguson, Derrick Boss has been sentenced to 105 days in jail and ordered to pay a total of $13,350 in restitution to his victims for environmental crimes. Records show that for years, Boss has been operating his business without a license, and forged his former partner's signature on asbestos abatement certification documents. Boss exposed his workers, including his own son, to asbestos without proper protective equipment.

Boss left 10 gallons of asbestos material on one customer’s floor. The customer had to hire another company to complete the work. (Office of Attorney General Bob Ferguson)

Asbestos is a dangerous pollutant, and when its microscopic fibers are released into the air, they can cause serious health problems, like lung cancer and mesothelioma.

One man in Burien contracted with Boss's company last year. He paid $4,500 cash in advance to remove asbestos from the floors of his property. L&I inspectors discovered that Boss's son, uncertified, was the only person doing the job. Workers who are certified are aware that asbestos removal requires full coverage equipment to protect the body from exposure. However, investigators found Boss's son breaking down flooring with a pry bar, while wearing only street clothes, and no respiratory equipment.

L&I investigators also discovered that Boss and his son left the Burien customer's property without finishing the job. They left 10 gallons of asbestos-contaminated debris all over the floor, they did not refund the customer their $4,500 payment and the customer had to hire someone else to finish the job.

A technician removes asbestos April 1, 1995 from apartment building in New York City. (Photo by Yvonne Hemsey/Getty Images)

According to the AG's Office, Boss launched his business in 2016 with his then-girlfriend. In 2018, the Department of Labor and Industries (L&I) decertified Boss as an asbestos abatement contractor. His ex-girlfriend, who owned 30% of the company, left to work for another job. Since that time, Boss's business has been performing asbestos removals without a license, using her forged signature to get passed certification documents. Investigators found that she has repeatedly asked Boss to take her name off the company licenses and records, but he never did.

Boss currently owes L&I more than half-million dollars in fines for 13 violations that came from two separate inspections from June 2021.

"This contractor preyed upon unsuspecting homeowners, and quickly scheduled jobs to avoid detection," said Craig Blackwood, L&I’s assistant director of the Division of Occupational Safety and Health. "He was playing with peoples’ health and their bank accounts."

In Feb. 2022, the AG's Environmental Protection Division filed criminal charges against Boss. In June, he pleaded guilty to two felonies, forgery and second-degree theft, and four gross misdemeanors, two violations of the Washington Clean Air Act and two counts of contracting without a license.

"I formed an Environmental Protection Division to bring additional prosecutorial resources to environmental crimes," said Ferguson. "My legal team is working to hold polluters accountable when they expose Washingtonians to dangerous and toxic substances in pursuit of profit."

Due to Boss's long string of violations that seemed to never end, L&I won an injunction in King County Superior Court against the company, which ordered Above and Beyond Asbestos Removal to cease all operations. Boss continued to work without a license.

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The AG's office is prosecuting the case after receiving referral from the King County Prosecutor's Office. Assistant AG Robert Grant with the Environmental Protection Division is leading the case.