Callahan Inc. has once again chosen a subcontractor that is facing legal actions for its illegal and unethical business practices – this time in the form of a $1.3 million lawsuit filed by the US Attorney’s Office against Twin Pines Construction (now known as Force Corporation). The collection notice against Force and its predecessor companies represents the latest in a long string of Callahan subcontractors facing lawsuits, including cases with the Attorney General’s Office, OSHA fines and fees, and cases with the MA Supreme Judicial Court.
Force Corporation was the wood frame subcontractor on the Callahan’s Pinehills Independent Living project in Plymouth, and was recently selected to perform the wood frame on Callahan’s Assembly Row project in Somerville.
In 2013, OSHA fined Twin Pines Construction (now known as Force Corporation) more than $625,000 in a series of willful, repeat, and serious violations. OSHA cited the employer’s “knowledge of and refusal to correct” the violations, which included an inspection triggered after a worker suffered broken ribs and leg injuries. The architectural publication Durability and Design called Twin Pines a “recidivist” MA framing contractor, and pointed out that the company had more than 10 OSHA cases in 4 years. In December of 2015, Force Corporation recieved a $91,000 OSHA fine, in what OSHA called an “imminent danger situation” – we wrote about that incident here.
Now, three years later, the US Attorney’s Office has had to resort to filing a collections notice to force the company to pay what has become more than $1.3 million in fines and fees.
After facing considerable community pressure to choose subcontractors who provided safe jobsites and paid area standard wages and benefits, Callahan chose to select Force Corporation to perform the wood frame portion of its Assembly Row project in Somerville. Force Corporation clearly does not provide safe jobsites for the men and women working in Somerville, and Callahan’s selection of them demonstrates their complete disregard for worker safety and community input. Federal Realty, the owner of the project, was informed that selecting Callahan as a general contractor could lead to the unscrupulous behaviors demonstrated by Force, and yet chose to go forward with the selection of Callahan.
