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Framingham construction company fined nearly $1 million for wage theft

Posted by National Alliance for Fair Contracting on

Eric Casey
November 2, 2023

PI Construction Management, a Framingham-based company, has been fined $926,898 by the Massachusetts Office of the Attorney General for violations of the Massachusetts False Claims Acts.

The violation stems from the failure of a BPI subcontractor, Superior Carpentry of Framingham, to pay prevailing wages to employees working on two public construction projects in Westport and Middleborough. This led to a complaint against the company being filed in December 2021, according to a press release released by AG’s office on Wednesday.

The fine was the result of litigation between BPI and the attorney general’s office, in which BPI argued that they were relying on the accuracy of the forms submitted by Superior. BPI denied any knowledge of the fraud being committed by Superior, according to the release, but admitted that it did not take steps to ensure that the payroll information was accurate.

This is the first case under the False Claims Act that affirms that contractors are liable for facilitating misconduct by subcontractors, according to the press release.

The AG’s office estimated that workers on the project were underpaid by a combined total of $256,539.

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Attorney General’s annual Labor Day Report: More than $11.8 million in restitution and penalties against employers on behalf of workers in Mass.

Posted by National Alliance for Fair Contracting on

MassLive.com – Published: Sep. 05, 2022
By Tristan Smith

Attorney General Maura Healey released her seventh annual Labor Day Report, a summary of the office’s efforts to combat wage theft and other forms of worker exploitation in Massachusetts. The report showed that during fiscal 2022 the office assessed more than $11.8 million in restitution and penalties against employers on behalf of commonwealth workers.

“This Labor Day, we honor the resiliency of Massachusetts workers whose perseverance throughout the COVID-19 pandemic has kept our communities and our economy going,” said AG Healey. “One of my top priorities is ensuring that workers from every industry are paid the wages they are entitled to and that they have access to the hard-fought workplace rights that our laws provide. We will continue to advocate for the rights of workers at the state and national level.”

The Labor Day Report details the actions of the AG’s Fair Labor Division in fiscal 2022, which runs from July 1, 2021 to June 30, 2022. During this fiscal year, the Fair Labor Division ordered employers to pay $7.5 million in restitution to employees and $4.2 million in penalties to the General Fund, according to the report.

More than 19,300 workers reportedly benefited from the AG’s enforcement actions.

In fiscal 2022, the Fair Labor Division continued its focus on combatting wage theft in the construction industry – where workers are often vulnerable to exploitation on the job, according to the report. In the construction industry alone, the division assessed more than $2.9 million in penalties and restitution and issued 217 citations against employers. In one case, the AG’s office cited a Wareham company and its owners for more than $1.2 million, including restitution for 41 employees, for prevailing wage violations and failing to submit certified payroll records, according to the report.

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AG Healey Secures Nearly $3 Million in Penalties and Back Wages Within the Construction Industry in Fiscal Year 2022

Posted by National Alliance for Fair Contracting on

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: 8/22/2022
Office of Attorney General Maura Healey
The Attorney General’s Fair Labor Division

AG’s Fair Labor Division Cited 100 Construction Companies for Violating State Labor Laws, Securing Restitution for More Than 850 Workers

BOSTON — As part of an ongoing initiative to combat wage theft in the construction industry, Attorney General Maura Healey announced today that her office issued 216 citations against 100 construction companies for violating the state’s wage and hour and prevailing wage laws over fiscal year 2022. As a result of these enforcement actions, more than 853 workers will receive more than $1.7 million in back pay and the companies will pay over $1.1 million in fines.

“Our Fair Labor Division works hard to advocate for construction workers across Massachusetts who are often vulnerable to wage theft and other forms of exploitation on the job,” said AG Healey. “Through continued enforcement, outreach, and education, we are committed to ensuring a fair working environment in the construction industry and a level playing field for responsible employers.”

The violations in these cases, handled by the AG’s Fair Labor Division, include the failure to pay wages in a timely manner, to pay overtime, and to furnish records for inspection, as well as retaliation. For work performed on public construction projects, violations include failure to pay the prevailing wage, to submit true and accurate certified payroll records, and to register and pay apprentices appropriately.

Some of the 2022 enforcement actions include citations against the following construction companies:

  • Rochester Bituminous Products, Inc., and its owners, President, Thomas Russo, Manager, Albert Todesca, and Treasurer, Michael P. Todesca, were issued 25 citations totaling more than $1.2 million in restitution and penalties for prevailing wage violations and failing to submit certified payroll records. The violations occurred on various public projects, including projects for the City of Boston, Town of Mattapoisett, Boston Water & Sewer Commission, as well as Abington, Bridgewater, Canton, Plymouth, Sharon, and Weymouth.
  • Superior Carpentry, Inc., and its President, Fernando Barroso, and Vice President, Felipe Drumond, were issued five citations for over $540,000 in restitution and penalties for failure to pay prevailing wages and for submittal of false payroll records to awarding authorities on public projects at the Middleborough and Westport police stations.
  • Railworks Track Systems, Inc., will pay more than $220,000 in restitution and penalties for failing to pay the proper overtime rate to workers, failing to properly account for different hourly rates of pay earned by employees during the same work week, and failing to submit true and accurate payroll records for work performed on public works projects in Hyannis, Falmouth. Framingham, Great Barrington, Lee, Lenox, Pittsfield, Sheffield, and Stockbridge.
  • Gonza Construction Inc. was issued five citations totaling $143,000 in restitution and penalties for prevailing wage, record-keeping, earned sick time, and paystub violations on a public project in Stoughton.

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NY rail company to pay overtime violations on projects in Massachusetts

Posted by National Alliance for Fair Contracting on

By: Ashley Shook
May 16, 2022

BOSTON (WWLP) – A New York-based rail system company was issued a citation and will pay more than $220,000 for overtime and payroll violations on projects in Massachusetts.

According to the Massachusetts Attorney General’s Office, Railworks Track Systems, Inc. and its President Gene J. Cellini, will pay more than $220,000 in restitution and penalties to resolve allegations that it failed to pay the proper overtime rate to workers on public works projects in the Berkshires, on Cape Cod, and in Framingham, and failed to submit accurate certified payroll records, Attorney General Maura Healey announced.

Restitution will be provided for 84 employees that were not paid properly for five railroad improvement projects in Hyannis, Falmouth, Framingham, Great Barrington, Lee, Lenox, Pittsfield, Sheffield, and Stockbridge.

“Companies must pay their employees the wages they’ve earned and are legally entitled to,” said AG Healey. “We are pleased to have secured this relief for the more than 80 affected workers, and hope that this sends a message to employers that we hold them accountable if they do not properly compensate their workers.”

The Attorney General’s Office received a referral in 2020 from the Foundation for Fair Contracting of Massachusetts, alleging that Railworks Track Systems was improperly paying its employees. The investigation revealed the payroll records did not include employee addresses, and that the company claimed a type of fringe benefit that is not permitted under Massachusetts prevailing wage laws. The fringe amounts were paid, but the amounts did not include overtime.

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We need new tools to deal with epidemic of wage theft

Posted by National Alliance for Fair Contracting on

What happened in Amherst should never happen again

TOM JURAVICH
Apr 30, 2022

MASSACHUSETTS NEEDS new legislation to curb wage theft because what happened in Amherst should have never happened and should never happen again. Nine undocumented Hondurans worked 10 hours a day, six days a week for five weeks in a row hanging sheetrock in a new apartment complex in Amherst. Collectively they were owed $50,173 for their labor – but they did not receive one penny in wages. …

Despite Beacon’s commitment to building affordable housing, their progressive social values did not guide the way the development was built. They relied on multiple subcontractors who used undocumented workers who were illegally misclassified as independent contractors. This allowed them to defraud the state by not paying taxes, unemployment insurance, and workers compensation.

Our recent study that examined the records of the Commonwealth found that more than one in six employees in construction are illegally misclassified, and that this costs Massachusetts as much as $82 million annually. And paying workers in cash as independent contractors has created a hothouse for wage theft, as we saw in Amherst.

Beacon Properties hired Keith Construction as the general contractor, which awarded Combat Drywall the contract to hang the sheet rock. Combat, however, has no employees to perform the work and subcontracted the work to Alvarez Drywall.

Alvarez is not registered with the secretary of state in Massachusetts as a business, has no website, no phone number, no real company identity. In fact, Alvarez is not a drywall company. It is simply a labor broker that brought undocumented workers to the job to work as “independent contractors” under Combat supervision. They were not employees and Alvarez would pay them in cash – or Alvarez was supposed to. …

The right to be paid for the work we do in a timely fashion is perhaps our most basic employment right in Massachusetts. No worker in the Commonwealth should ever have to suffer what the workers at the North Square apartments had to go through. We need to hold employers and lead contractors responsible and stop this kind of wage theft with the passage of H1959.

We should all be able to drive or walk through our communities and not have to worry about what is taking place at building and construction sites. As I drive by the North Square Apartments on my way to work now, it stands as a monument to the mistakes that we made and how this can never happen again.

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Wareham Paving Company Cited Over $1 Million for Not Paying Workers and Failing to Keep Payroll Records on Public Projects

Posted by National Alliance for Fair Contracting on

Jan. 19, 2022
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Office of Attorney General Maura Healey
The Attorney General’s Fair Labor Division

BOSTON — A Wareham Company and its owners have been cited more than $1.2 million in restitution and penalties over allegations that they did not pay prevailing wages to employees and failed to furnish accurate payroll records, Attorney General Maura Healey announced.

Rochester Bituminous Products, Inc., its President, Thomas Russo, Manager, Albert Todesca, and Treasurer, Michael P. Todesca, were issued 25 citations by the AG’s Office for failing to pay prevailing wages to employees on various public projects including projects for the City of Boston, Town of Mattapoisett, and the Boston Water & Sewer Commission, and failure to furnish true and accurate payroll records to the AG’s Office, and failure to submit true and accurate certified payroll records to an awarding authority on a weekly basis for work performed to the above mentioned locations as well as Plymouth, Abington, Canton, Weymouth, Bridgewater, and Sharon. Through the citations, the AG’s Office is seeking penalties from Rochester Bituminous for its violations of state labor laws, and restitution for 22 employees it allegedly harmed.

“Companies have an obligation to pay their workers the wages they’ve earned,” said AG Healey. “We are issuing these citations to secure relief for workers who were cheated by this company’s illegal practices.”

In 2019, the AG’s Fair Labor Division began investigating whether Rochester Bituminous was paying its workers the proper prevailing wage for paving work done for the City of Boston. The division also received several complaints from past and present workers of the company, alleging that they had not been paid prevailing wages for work performed.

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AG’s Office accuses Framingham companies of underpaying workers of public projects

Posted by National Alliance for Fair Contracting on

Zane Razzaq
MetroWest Daily News
Dec. 29, 2021

FRAMINGHAM — A Hollis Street construction company and its owners will be fined more than $540,000 over allegations they failed to pay prevailing wages to employees who worked on public projects at the Middleborough and Westport police stations, according to the Attorney General’s Office.

Superior Carpentry Inc. and its president, Fernando Barroso, and vice president, Felipe Drumond, were issued five citations by Attorney General Maura Healey’s office for failing to pay prevailing wages, not submitting accurate payroll records and falsifying records, according to a press release.

Another Framingham company, BPI Construction Management Inc. on 110 Mill St., also received a separate complaint from the office alleging it knowingly facilitated the submission of fraudulent payroll records.

BPI subcontracted the work to Superior Carpentry.

“These companies cheated workers out of the wages they earned while working on public construction projects and then repeatedly lied about it to the municipalities involved,” said Healey in a statement. “Contractors and constructions companies at every level, in every trade, are responsible for performing their work in accordance with the law. It is a priority of our office to ensure that workers are paid the wages owed to them.”

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LYNN WAGE THEFT ADVISORY COMMITTEE: WAGE THEFT ‘IS GOING TO HAPPEN’ (MA)

Posted by National Alliance for Fair Contracting on

BY DAVID MCLELLAN | March 11, 2020

LYNN – There are hundreds of construction workers who are or will be working at Lynn’s many current and future development sites. According to the Lynn Wage Theft Advisory Committee, it’s virtually guaranteed a chunk of them will get ripped off.

“It’s going to happen. It’s a slam dunk. It’s just so easy to get away with,” said Robert Reynolds, a member of the Wage Theft Advisory Committee who gave a talk on wage theft to the Greater Lynn Chamber of Commerce Government Affairs Committee Wednesday morning.

“This is something the whole community has a stake in. This harms everyone,” Reynolds said.

Wage theft is a term that encompasses a variety of legal infractions committed by employers, including failure to pay overtime wages, failure to pay a minimum wage, or otherwise not paying an employee the full amount to which they are legally or contractually entitled.

It harms the workers themselves, but also the larger community, Reynolds said. Tax revenue is lost, workers’ compensation and unemployment funds are lost, and honest businesses are disadvantaged.

According to Reynolds, construction is the No. 1 industry in terms of wage theft prevalence, followed by the food industry. Lynn officials should be paying extra attention to potential wage theft, given the amount of current or upcoming development in the city, he said.

“It’s almost guaranteed that that’s going on at every construction site,” he said. “You want a big banner hanging over the General Edwards Bridge saying, ‘If you’re going to engage in that stuff, we don’t want you here. And if you do engage in that stuff, we’re going to come after you.'”

With the recent increase in development – including at least six major waterfront developments adding thousands of new apartment units – the Wage Theft Advisory Committee is educating the public.

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Attorney General finds Dracut violated procurement, wage laws (MA)

Posted by National Alliance for Fair Contracting on

Meg McIntyre
February 11, 2020

DRACUT – A months-long Attorney General review of town procurement practices came to a head Tuesday night as the Board of Selectmen voted to approve a settlement addressing allegations that Dracut violated procurement and prevailing wage laws. …

The review also found that the town did not request the prevailing wage rate schedule from the state Department of Labor Standards prior to putting several projects out to bid, and failed to include the rate schedule in bid documents provided to bidders and selected contractors, according to the office, violating prevailing wage laws.

The settlement, which is contingent upon court approval, requires Dracut to hire an experienced procurement officer and provide training to staff on procurement and prevailing wage laws. The town will also be subject to monitoring by the Attorney General’s office going forward.

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Column: Wage theft scourge is a massive bank robbery every day (MA)

Posted by National Alliance for Fair Contracting on

By Frank Callahan/Guest Columnist
Posted Feb 23, 2020 at 6:18 PM

The Great Brink’s Robbery, which has been upheld as the most notorious theft in the history of Boston, happened 70 years ago last month.

The brazen daytime heist, in which 11 robbers broke in and stole $2.8 million (about $30 million in 2020 money) from the Brink’s security company in the North End on Jan. 17, 1950, was at the time the largest robbery in U.S. history and dubbed “the crime of the century.” The crime prompted changes to the way companies approached security for both employees and assets. Police, politicians and the public were all focused on making sure lessons were learned and improvements were implemented.

Unfortunately, decision makers today haven’t been acting with the same degree of urgency to an equally onerous theft in our backyard. Wage theft – the practice of stealing money earned by workers – is a $700 million annual problem in Massachusetts. That’s almost $2 million a day being stolen out of the pockets of hardworking men and women, all Massachusetts taxpayers.

It is hurting the workers, who struggle from paycheck to paycheck. It hurts communities, which see its core small businesses suffer because residents have less spending power. And it hurts the entire commonwealth, whose economy suffers, leaving less revenue for crucial services like public safety, education and transportation.

Wage theft may not be as shocking as the Brink’s job, in which gang members picked locks, bound and gagged workers and dispersed into the night. Rather, today’s crooks are more likely to be wearing suits and looking their victims right in the eye while reaching around and picking the wallet from their back pocket. They’re unscrupulous contractors and subcontractors who promise to pay carpenters, pipefitters, sheet metal workers, custodians and countless other laborers agreed-upon wages and then short-change them after the work has already been done.

Frequently, there is little recourse. Maura Healey, the Massachusetts attorney general, has committed to cracking down on wage theft in the commonwealth. It’s not fair to ask Healey and her staff to take on this fight with one hand tied behind their backs.
Thankfully, there is a potential fix. There are two wage theft bills pending before the Legislature on Beacon Hill that would take this scourge head on.

Massachusetts’ Building Trades unions are urging lawmakers to pass legislation to provide Healey with greater enforcement authority. That includes enabling her office to penalize lead contractors for wage theft violations committed by their subcontractors. It would also empower the Attorney General’s office to shut down work sites until the violations are corrected.

And this legislation would pay for itself. More enforcement will lead to more recovery. In Fiscal Year 2019, the AG’s office recovered $5.8 million in restitution for these hardworking men and women – less than 1 percent of what was stolen. It stands to reason that more enforcement will return more money.

There are some champions in the Legislature who have recognized the importance of combating wage theft. Sen. Sal DiDomenico of Everett and Rep. Dan Donohue of Worcester have sponsored bills to battle wage theft and lent their support to ensuring the hardworking people of Massachusetts get paid the money they earn. Both of these bills have more than half of the Legislature signed on as co-sponsors.

Seven decades after the Brink’s robbery, people still recall not only the crime but the response to it to make sure it doesn’t happen again. That’s what we should be doing on the wage theft front, as well.

Frank Callahan is the president of the Massachusetts. Building Trades Council.

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