The prevailing wage laws are somewhat complicated and can expose an unwary employer to thousands of dollars in wages and penalties if the employer does not comply.  There are also occasions when flagrant violations of such laws can land an owner in prison.  That is what has happened in a recent Pennsylvania case where a contractor was handed a two year sentence after he pled guilty to, essentially, stealing from his workers by not paying them proper prevailing wage.  The case is entitled Commonwealth of Pennsylvania v. Scott Cameron Good, and issued from the Court of Common Pleas of Clearfield County

The owner, Scott Good, pled guilty to five counts of theft.  He had underpaid his employees almost $65,000 in wages.  The company provided HVAC and plumbing services.  The prosecution was part of a new and very focused effort to hold employers liable under criminal provisions of the prevailing wage laws and not “merely” seeking to recoup the wages for the workers.  As the prosecutor aptly stated, “the days when companies could screw over workers and not be held accountable to the law are over.  If employers steal from their workers, through misclassification or violations of the prevailing wage, we will act.”

The lawyer for the defendant disagreed emphatically with the decision.  She stated that “we respectfully and vehemently disagree with Judge Ammerman’s decision today to sentence Scott Good to serve jail time. No one in this case argued for a jail sentence — not even attorneys for the Pennsylvania Office of Attorney General, which prosecuted this unprecedented case.”

Mr. Good was charged almost two years ago with in excess of one-hundred theft and related charges, related to his failure to pay prevailing wages.  The evidence showed that the workers were ordered to report some hours at a Laborer rate, an unskilled labor rate, which is much lower than the proper trade.  Mr. Good asserted a criminal prosecution was illegal as this was only a civil statute, but the Judge rejected that contention.  He then decided to plead guilty to five counts of theft and was sentenced to a term of four months to possibly two years in jail.

The Takeaway

This is scary but it is a cautionary tale.  I have defended more than one-hundred employers on prevailing wage audits and have found that States take a very hard line on enforcing prevailing wage laws although this criminal prosecution is rare.  It shows, however, that criminal penalties are possible.

Contractors beware!

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