Newton Company Cited More Than $15,000 for Violating the Prevailing Wage Law at Three Public Construction Sites

FROM THE OFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL

June 10, 2008

Contact: Harry Pierre
(617) 727-2543


BOSTON - Attorney General Martha Coakley’s Office has issued three citations against a Newton masonry contractor for failing to pay the state prevailing wage at three public construction sites throughout the state. John D’Agostino, of Newton, his son Romeo D’Agostino, of Needham, and their company, D’Agostino Associates, Inc. (D’Agostino Associates), were assessed $12,970 in penalties as well as over $2,800 in restitution for failing to pay the prevailing wage to fourteen employees.

In June 2006, the Attorney General’s Fair Labor Division received a complaint that D’Agostino Associates had failed to pay the prevailing wage to employees working at the East Fairhaven Elementary School project in Fairhaven, MA. A subsequent complaint filed in August 2007 alleged that the company had also failed to pay the prevailing wage at the M.J. Kuss Middle School public works project in Fall River, MA. Investigators from the Attorney General’s Office reviewed the company’s certified payroll records and discovered that the company failed to pay employees a total of over $2,200 on those two projects.

Investigators from the Attorney General’s Fair Labor Division also conducted an audit of the company’s payroll records for the Franklin Department of Public Works Building Project after a complaint was received in March 2007. Authorities discovered that D’Agostino Associates owed back wages totaling over $500 on the Franklin project as a result of failing to pay the correct prevailing wage to the employees on that work site.

The Prevailing Wage Laws require that certain minimum wage rates, as set by the Massachusetts Department of Labor, be paid to all employees working on public works construction projects. It is the contractor's responsibility to make certain that all employees on its payroll receive at least the prevailing wage rates. The Prevailing Wage Laws allow all contractors bidding on public works projects to enjoy a “level playing field” by standardizing the rate of pay the workers will earn. A company who fails to pay the correct rates to employees could be subject to both criminal and civil penalties.

The Attorney General’s Fair Labor Division is responsible for enforcing the State Prevailing Wage Laws. Workers who feel that these laws have been violated in their workplace are encouraged to call the Attorney General’s Fair Labor Hotline at (617) 727-3465.

The Fall River case was handled by Inspector Mario Paiva and Assistant Attorney General Anita Maietta. The Fairhaven case was investigated by Inspector Mario Paiva and supervised by Deputy Chief of Investigations Greg Reutlinger. The Franklin citation was handled by Assistant Attorney General Miranda Jones and Inspector James Kelley, all of the Attorney General’s Fair Labor Division.