WORCESTER – The Massachusetts Attorney General’s office has cited a Lowell asbestos abatement company and its operators more than $564,000 for violating the state’s wage, overtime and earned sick time laws for 15 public construction projects, including in Worcester, Clinton and Spencer.
According to Attorney General Maura Healey’s office, Fiber Control Inc., its president Bahram Safarpoormonfared, and operators Dara Chhim and Khly Sok, received four citations for intentionally failing to pay the prevailing wage and overtime, failing to maintain an earned sick time policy, and repeated payroll records violations.
The company and its operators have ignored the citations and have been debarred from working on public works projects for the time period of one year starting on October 10, 2020.
“Contractors who perform work on public construction projects have a duty to pay the prevailing wage,” Healey said. “We will enforce state laws that protect construction workers from wage theft and ensure a level playing field for contractors and construction companies that bid on public works projects.”
Work was performed by Fiber Control employees on 15 public construction projects between September 2017 through February 2019, where none of the workers received the required prevailing wage rate.
The AG’s investigation revealed that Fiber Control repeatedly submitted certified payroll records stating employees were paid the full prevailing wage, when in fact they were not.
Those public constructions projects were at the following locations:
- Belmont Housing Authority
- Cape Cod Community College
- Cambridge – Putnam Gardens
- Clinton Housing Authority
- Concord – Ripley Steam Lab
- Danvers – Willis Thorpe School
- David Prouty High School – Spencer East Brookfield Regional School District
- Worcester – DYS Leahy Center [photo above]
- Hyannis Fire & Rescue Headquarters
- Framingham – 10 Nichols Road
- Framingham – Village Hall
- UMass-Amherst Tilson Poultry Building
- UMass-Lowell
- Walpole Fisher Elementary School
- Walpole Town Hall
