A Boston Globe investigation published Sunday details the extensive network of contractors who rely on wage theft and misclassification of employees as independent contractors to undermine and underbid legitimate contractors. Many of these subcontractors have worked or are working for Callahan Inc., as an integral component of its business model.
The front page article highlighted the stories of workers like Luis Mayancela, who at the age of 15 fell off the roof of a project in Portland, Maine, while working for Force Corporation, a regular Callahan subcontractor. Mayancela was transported to a hospital across state lines in the back of a work van, and his boss denied responsibility for the accident. A complex network of subcontractors made it almost impossible to hold anyone accountable for Mayancela’s accident, with each layer of subcontractor shifting responsibility to another.
The general contractor on that project claims he did not know about problems with Force Corporation, which include more than 100 violations since 2007, $1.5 million in OSHA fines that the US Attorney’s office is currently suing to collect, and a $2.6 million settlement for wage theft, all of which are publicly available.
“They don’t care. They’re going to keep using this company because they’re cheap labor. There’s a reason that they’re so inexpensive compared to the market. It doesn’t come free, that discount,” said Stacie Sobosik, a Medford attorney who represents injured workers. 1,300 complaints to the Massachusetts Attorney General in the last three years for wage and safety violations has resulted in $2.4 million in restitution and $1 million in penalties, much of which remains unpaid as companies flee to avoid enforcement.
The article goes on to highlight Callahan Inc., another company that claimed innocence over Force Corporation’s wrongdoings and has a long history of using subcontractors that rely on the underground economy. Callahan is currently the general contractor on a 447 unit development in Somerville, and recently finished the One North of Boston complex in Chelsea. A recent visit to the Chelsea site by the Globe found Universal Drywall with 30 workers on site, many of whom were listed as independent contractors. Universal was sued for this illegal practice in 2014 by the Attorney General, but remains on Callahan’s projects.
These illegal and unethical business practices are endemic to Force Corporation, Callahan Inc., and the other contractors highlighted in this investigation.
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