Home Economy Government R.I. orders Fall River contractor to pay $869K for wage theft, misclassifying...

R.I. orders Fall River contractor to pay $869K for wage theft, misclassifying employees

By

PBN Staff

-

03/04/2024

WL BUILDERS INC. in Fall River has been ordered by the R.I. Department of Labor and Training to pay $869,000 for wage theft, misclassifying employees and falsifying payroll on three public works projects in Rhode Island.

PROVIDENCE – A Fall River company has been ordered by the R.I. Department of Labor and Training to pay $869,000 for wage theft, misclassifying employees and falsifying payroll costs on three public works projects in Rhode Island. The DLT also referred the matter to the R.I. Office of the Attorney General because of an alleged

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PROVIDENCE – A Fall River company has been ordered by the R.I. Department of Labor and Training to pay $869,000 for wage theft, misclassifying employees and falsifying payroll costs on three public works projects in Rhode Island. The DLT also referred the matter to the R.I. Office of the Attorney General because of an alleged kickback scheme. In its decision released Feb. 16, the DLT said WL Builders Inc. failed to pay prevailing wages and misclassified 15 workers as independent contractors while it acted as a subcontractor for H.V. Collins Co. of Providence when working on construction projects at Rhode Island College, Cumberland High School and Cumberland Hill Elementary School. WL Builders owner Domingues De Almeida, a Brazilian national, hired other Brazilan immigrants to work on the projects, even though many were not authorized to work in the U.S., and paid them less than the required prevailing wages of $33.55 and a fringe benefit rate of $26.15 that were documented in paperwork the company submitted to H.V. Collins. The DLT ordered WL Builders to pay $414,074 in back wages, benefits and interest owed to the workers and $455,075 in civil penalties. The DLT has also referred the matter to the R.I. Office of the Attorney General to review an alleged kickback scheme between Edward Domestico, a project manager for H.V. Collins, and De Almeida. De Almeida testified during a DLT hearing that Domestico offered to help him find construction work since he was new to the U.S. but Domestico wanted to be paid 10% of what was involved to H.V. Collins. The DLT decision showed De Almeida paid H.V. Collins 26 checks totaling more than $76,000. In the decision, DLT hearing officer David Barricelli wrote that De Almeida – “new to this country, naive and unsophisticated in construction matters” – had been taken advantage of by Domestico, a seasoned construction manager, adding “ignorance of the law does not excuse its contravention.” Domestico “masqueraded as a good Samaritan, saying he would extend a helping hand to De Almeida in starting a carpentry business,” but instead pulled his “unwitting” friend into an illegal scheme, Barricelli wrote.