Two Other Companies Punished for Underpaying Workers $60,000 in Prevailing Wages
A Freeport construction company pleaded guilty to falsifying paperwork with the Wantagh Union Free School District and was barred from performing any public work contracts in New York State for five years. Separate investigations by the Nassau County District Attorney’s Office also led to the recovery of $60,000 in underpaid prevailing wages from companies, one from Texas and the other from Long Island.
GTX Construction Associates Corp, entered into a guilty plea on February 21 before Judge Christopher Quinn to offering a false instrument for filing in the first degree (an E felony). The company was sentenced to a $1,000 fine and a conditional discharge. Under the New York State Labor Law, this felony conviction prohibits GTX and its principal, Giovanni Napolitano, from performing any public work contracts in New York State for five years.
“It is essential that the companies our school districts trust to perform work are operating honestly and legally,” said Nassau County DA Anne Donnelly. “GTX Construction Associates Corp filed fraudulent surety bond paperwork with the Wantagh Union Free School District purporting to be from a company that was in actuality no longer performing that service.”
Wantagh UFSD Superintendent John McNamara said its Board of Education discovered that the documents provided by GTX were falsified; as a result, the board quickly terminated its relationship with the company and reported the matter to the DA’s office. “We fortunately uncovered this before the district suffered any financial loss,” he said.
On October 22, 2022, GTX entered a public work contract with the Wantagh Union Free School District for masonry restoration at the Mandalay Elementary School. The contract required that the company secure a payment and labor/material bond from a licensed surety company to guarantee the quality of the work and the payment of wages.
Almost immediately upon the start of the project, the Wantagh assistant superintendent for business determined that GTX performed substandard work and terminated the contract. The Nassau County District Attorney’s Office investigation revealed that GTX filed a forged and falsified surety bond with the school district. Specifically, GTX submitted a bond that Aegis Security Insurance Company purportedly issued. However, per Aegis Security, the company left the bonding industry in 2021.
Additionally, in two separate and unrelated public work investigations, NCDA secured more than $60,000 in unpaid prevailing wages for six construction workers.
JLN Contracting, Inc., of Central Islip, performed carpentry work at Oceanside High School for six weeks in the summer of 2022. The employee on the project was paid $27.00/hour in cash instead of the $85.54/hour rate of wages and benefits prescribed under state law. The complaining witness received payment from NCDA of $12,293.40 last week to fully compensate him for his labor.
In the spring and summer of 2023, Gulf States Protective Coatings Inc. of La Porte, Texas, contracted to perform the highly specialized work of restoration of a water tank and treatment facilities at the Jericho Water District. District Council 9 Painters and Allied Trades Union notified the NCDA that the non-union Texas company underpaid its employees by approximately $20.00/hour. A review of the certified payroll records obtained from the Jericho Water District and the paychecks from the employer revealed that five workers were underpaid $49,175.01, just less than $10,000.00 per employee. Payments were made to the workers at the end of January 2024.
“These companies underpaid workers a total of more than $60,000 in wages to which they were entitled through prevailing wage. In one instance, a worker was paid $60 an hour less than what he was owed for his carpentry work at a local high school,” Donnelly said. “My Revenue, Auto, Insurance and Labor Crime Bureau is aggressively investigating these wage violations and holding companies accountable when they short their employees.”
“This investigation highlights the crucial need for integrity and legality in the construction industry, particularly concerning public works contracts,” stated DC 9 Business Manager/Secretary Treasurer Joseph Azzopardi. “Our union is proud to be a leader in efforts to ensure fair compensation and adherence to prevailing wage laws. We must hold those who exploit workers and violate labor laws accountable.”