Posted Aug 1, 2018 at 5:46 PM
A Winchester construction company J. Donlon and Sons Inc. has paid more than $121,000 in wages and penalties for violating the Massachusetts prevailing and minimum wage laws by failing to properly pay workers on a Medford public works project, Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey announced today. The company is located at 86 Cross St. in Winchester.
“This company and its owners gained an unfair advantage by cheating their workers out of the wages they earned,” said Attorney General Healey in a press release announcing the settlement. “With this settlement, we are sending a message that there are serious consequences to breaking our laws.”
J. Donlon and Sons Inc.’s owner Joseph M. Donlon Sr., and his two sons Joseph M. Donlon Jr. and Sean Donlon, were cited for intentionally failing to pay prevailing wage, failing to submit true and accurate certified payroll records, failing to pay the state minimum wage and failing to maintain true and accurate general payroll records from January 2012 through December 2016, according to the release. As part of the settlement, the company and all three corporate officers are prohibited from bidding or working on any public works construction project in Massachusetts for 10 years.
The attorney general’s Fair Labor Division began investigating J. Donlon and Sons after a former employee submitted a complaint alleging he was not paid the proper prevailing wage rate for work performed on a city of Medford utility trench patching public works project. According to the release, the attorney general’s office determined that employees on the project were paid far less than the established prevailing wage rate. During one three-year period, for example, employees were paid an hourly rate of between $8 and $20 when they should have been paid between $51.35 and $54.10 per hour.
The company also submitted certified payroll records to the city of Medford during certain years that listed only members of the Donlon family as having worked on the project and omitted other employees, the attorney general’s office stated. The investigation found that general payroll records were also inaccurate, and two employees were paid less than the applicable minimum wage.