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As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe NowA company with an Indianapolis partner that oversaw the construction of a minor league baseball park in Massachusetts has agreed to pay nearly $2 million to settle allegations that it failed to live up to its pledge of giving a certain portion of the work on the project to women- and minority-owned businesses, the state Attorney General’s Office said.
When Gilbane/Hunt submitted its bid for the role of construction manager of Polar Park in Worcester in 2019 it promised to give 20% of the work to women- and minority-owned businesses, the attorney general’s office said in a statement Thursday.
But the company—a joint venture of Gilbane Building Co. of Providence, Rhode Island, and Aecom Hunt Construction Group Inc. of Indianapolis—misrepresented the status of such businesses on the project, did little to encourage women- and minority-owned businesses, and did not track where the project’s spending on such businesses stood in meeting its goal, the Attorney General’s Office said.
A state investigation sparked by a GBH News report found that Gilbane/Hunt violated the state’s False Claims Act and consumer protection laws, the office said.
“Construction companies in Massachusetts must live up to their promises to create opportunities for women- and minority-owned businesses on public projects,” Attorney General Maura Healey said in a statement. “If a company says that the inclusion of diverse businesses is a priority in an effort to win a public contract, we are going to ensure that they are held accountable for those representations.”
The 9,500-seat stadium in Worcester, built at a cost of about $160 million, is home to the Worcester Red Sox, the Triple-A affiliate of the Boston Red Sox.
“While the Gilbane-Hunt joint-venture team fully cooperated with this investigation, we strongly disagree with the allegations and this settlement framework does not include any admission of liability,” the company said in a statement. “The joint venture team is proud of constructing the Polar Park project and our commitment to diversity, inclusion and driving economic opportunity in the community.”
Hunt Construction Group Inc. was Indianapolis’ largest construction contractor when it was acquired in 2014 by Los Angeles-based engineering firm Aecom Technology Corp. Before the acquisition, Hunt’s local projects included Lucas Oil Stadium and the JW Marriott hotel.
Aecom Hunt remains based in Indianapolis but oversees construction projects across the country.
Of the $1.9 million settlement, Worcester will get $500,000 to be used to promote the participation of women- and minority-owned businesses in government contracting, City Manager Eric Batista said in a statement.
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Sounds like they anticipated cost overruns or lack of qualified woman & minority
subcontractors to get the job done on time.
Minority goals looking for 20% participation cannot be met in most urban areas. To do so requires awarding contracts to scam companies set up to appear to be a minority contractor. There simply are not enough minority companies in business to meet these goals. It is very difficult to be a construction subcontractor and have the resources, manpower and ability to perform to what is expected on these large and difficult jobs. And then to top it off wait 60 or more days to get paid in many cases.
The whole required participation program is a scam, and always has been. Sounds like the City of Worcester went for their 25% of the penalty, the 75% will probably be pilfered away by the state.
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. is turning over in his grave, his dream of his children being judged not by the color of their skin but by the content of their character having been high-jacked by all the cultural parasites among us.
Sometimes things that are meant for good could be changed for something bad but awarding a certain percentage to women and minority contractors was to serve a specific purpose. Let’s not act as though these and other measures weren’t put into place for no reason at all. America has a long track record of racism and bias towards women and people of color. I see nothing wrong in regulating these things if done correctly and fairly.
I recall IBJ stories about a recent project in Indy that was 100% completed by MBE/WBE, the new Goodwill/Cook factory on E. 38th. It certainly can be done.
For all those criticizing minority participation programs, you missed the main point of the allegations, and that is that this contractor misrepresented the status of some of its subs. That’s called fraud.