Barred by Comptroller
Contractor Cheated Bellevue Workers

By ARI PAUL

A heating and ventilation contractor has been barred from city and state contracts for five years, the City Comptroller announced Feb. 21, after it drastically underpaid three immigrant employees working at Bellevue Hospital.

WILLIAM C. THOMPSON: Nailed unscrupulous firm.

Comptroller William C. Thompson, Jr. said that Kelly's Sheet Metal, Inc. was hired to renovate air-conditioning systems and install sprinklers at Bellevue from November 2003 to December 2004. In that time, it was found that two workers were not paid for every day worked and another was paid $100 in cash for a day's work. The prevailing wage calls for more than $66 per hour for sheet metal and steam-fitting work.

'Egregious Scofflaw'

"Kelly's Sheet Metal's violation was particularly egregious as it failed to pay two workers any money for their work and drastically underpaid a third worker," Mr. Thompson said in a statement. "Kelly's Sheet Metal is a scofflaw and will now have to deal with the consequences of its unlawful behavior by being barred from doing business with the city."

The Comptroller's investigation found that Kelly's Sheet Metal also falsified payroll records after it denied that it had ever employed the three workers. Mr. Thompson's staff used this as evidence before the Office of Administrative Trials and Hearings.

Constantine Kokkoris, the attorney who argued the case, said that while the employer had gotten rid of some of the evidence of the workers' presence on the payroll, the workers were able to provide incriminating evidence.

"The thing that won the case was our investigators' dogged determination," he said in a phone interview. "In cross-examination I was able to show that the employer and his witnesses contradicted themselves."

Wasn't Licensed, Either

The company, whose primary client has been the city and the state, is appealing the ruling. Mr. Kokkoris added that Kelly's Sheet Metal was also not licensed to do the sprinkler installation work it was doing at Bellevue.

Mr. Thompson's office said that the company owed the workers $172,535 in unpaid wages and interest. It also assessed a $43,134 fine.

"Prevailing wage laws exist to ensure that workers are paid fairly and equitably," Mr. Thompson said.