CHELSEA — A construction company stiffed workers out of more than $80,000 for work they performed as part of a $38 million renovation project for a public housing residence for the blind, the state attorney general’s office said.
For more than half a year, subcontractor JAM Construction Corp. underpaid carpenters and tapers carrying out work at Selis Manor at 135 W. 23rd St., Attorney General Eric Schneiderman said in a statement.
JAM also failed to provide supplemental benefits required by law, the attorney general said.
Selis Manor broke ground on the Housing and Urban Development-funded project — which included adding a new entrance, renovating residents’ apartments, and overhauling infrastructure like heating and air-conditioning systems — back in June 2014.
“We will not allow employers to get away with ripping off their workers,” Schneiderman said in a statement. “We will remain vigilant in protecting the rights of New York’s working men and women, and will continue to use monitors where appropriate to ensure ongoing compliance with the law.”
JAM — which was a subcontractor for the Bronx-based Procida Construction Corp. — paid its eight carpenters and tapers between $17 and $35 per hour for their work at Selis Manor from December 2014 through August 2015, Schneiderman said.
But under prevailing wage requirements, the carpenters should have received $43.02 per hour in wages and $35.96 per hour in supplemental benefits, while tapers should have received $43.82 per hour in wages and $22.01 per hour in supplemental benefits, the settlement said.
Workers were deprived of a total of $80,603.01, the settlement showed.
The attorney general's office discovered the violations while monitoring Procida Construction Corp's labor practices. The group contracted with JAM for the Selis Manor project in November 2014.
Schneiderman's office imposed an “independent monitor” on Procida as part of a 2013 settlement, in which the company agreed to pay almost $1 million to workers it underpaid while constructing two senior affordable housing projects in Brooklyn, his office said.
As part of Thursday's settlement, JAM will pay the eight workers a little more than $80,000 in restitution and underpayment, as well as fork over $10,000 as a civil penalty, Schneiderman's statement said.
Representatives for Procida and JAM did not respond to requests for comment Thursday.
A request for comment left with a manager at Selis Manor was not immediately returned.
HUD did not immediately respond to a request for comment Friday.
CORRECTION: The initial statement released by the attorney general's office incorrectly stated that the Selis Manor project was developed by the city's Department of Housing Preservation and Development. The office released a corrected statement stating the project was federally funded by HUD. The article has been revised to reflect this correction.
