On September 30, 2024, Maryland Attorney General Anthony Brown announced the Circuit Court for Prince George’s County sentenced Jose Walter Marquez Rivera (“Marquez”) – the owner of Congratulations Construction Inc. – to serve 90 days in jail followed by five years of supervised probation. The court also ordered Marquez to pay $291,333.07 in restitution. Marquez’s company supplied drywall carpenters and laborers for the University of Maryland Capital Region Cancer Center construction project and the University of Maryland Field Hockey & Women’s Lacrosse Complex Expansion project.
Maryland law required Marquez to pay his employees the prevailing wage rates as determined by the Maryland Commissioner of Labor and Industry. The Office of the Attorney General’s (“OAG”) investigation revealed that the certified payroll records Marquez submitted to the state to show compliance were, in fact, falsified. Marquez employed various methods to defraud the workers, including falsifying payroll names. Marquez took the workers’ money and then paid them substantially less than the prevailing wage rates.
In announcing the sentencing, Attorney General Brown stated that “hardworking Marylanders deserve to be paid what they are owed. We will not allow unscrupulous employers to take from their employees’ wallets and depreciate their wages . . .This sentencing shows that our office will vigorously defend residents’ right to a fair paycheck.”
Attorney General Brown invited any construction worker who performed work for Congratulations Construction, Inc. on the UMD Capital Region Cancer Center or the UMD Field Hockey and Women’s Lacrosse Complex Expansion to contact the OAG at restitution@oag.state.md.us regarding restitution to which they may be entitled as a result of the criminal case.
Separate from the OAG’s criminal action, on December 20, 2023, four workers from the UMD Capital Region Cancer Center project filed claims in the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland against Whiting-Turner Contracting Company (“Whiting-Turner”), Centerline Construction Company (“Centerline”), and Congratulations Construction. Martinez v. The Whiting-Turner Contracting Co., No. 1:23-cv-3441-MJM (D. Md. Oct. 21, 2024). The plaintiffs alleged that second-tier subcontractor, Congratulations, and first-tier subcontractor, Centerline, schemed to steal wages from the workers and other similarly-situated employees by, among other things, misclassifying them as independent contractors; failing to pay them the applicable prevailing wages; and requiring them to sign daily timesheets using false names and indicating they were workers of Centerline.
The plaintiffs alleged Marquez – the owner of Congratulations –instructed them not to open sealed envelopes from Centerline. Despite his instructions, the workers opened the envelopes, and on several occasions noted that inside were Centerline-issued paychecks addressed to the false names Marquez assigned to the workers and required them to use on their Centerline timesheets. The workers claimed that the Centerline paychecks listed the correct $44.36 per hour carpentry prevailing wage rate and tax deductions, but that Marquez would issue substitute checks from Congratulations to the workers in their real names for amounts ranging from $15-28 per hour without overtime premiums or payroll tax deductions. Additionally, one worker claimed he received cash payments of $15 an hour. When the workers who opened the Centerline checks contained in the sealed envelopes noticed the substantial reduction in Congratulation’s substitute payments, they questioned Marquez and claimed he told them he was entitled to the differential and used it to pay for insurance and other things.
According to the complaint, Congratulations and Centerline misclassified plaintiffs as independent contractors in violation of the Maryland Workplace Fraud Act. The workers further alleged that all three defendants were jointly and severally liable for failing to pay prevailing wages in violation of the Maryland Prevailing Wage Statute, and overtime wages, pursuant to the Maryland Wage Payment and Collection Law.
On October 21, 2024, the District Court approved the parties’ settlement agreement, requiring Centerline and Congratulations pay settlement proceeds to the plaintiffs.
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