BUCKEYE SCOFFS AT STATE
LAW
Most companies who cheat their employees out of money are
gambling that they won’t be scrutinized and that the employees won’t know
any better.
Usually, it’s a state agency that is notified by competing
contractors or a disenchanted employee, and a cumbersome auditing process
occurs that costs taxpayers thousands of dollars to recover back wages for
employees.
After repeated violations, the state gets very angry. That
was the case with Buckeye Electric, a small contractor with a long history of
litigation, liens and legal problems.
Buckeye Electric’s repeated violations of Ohio state law
earned the scrutiny of criminal prosecutors and the state’s highest court.
And despite extensive legal maneuverings by the scofflaw
company, the Ohio State Supreme Court ruled that the company could be charged
in criminal proceedings for repeated, flagrant violations of the state’s
prevailing wage law.
In a precedent-setting case that originated in
Butler County and ultimately involved the Ohio State Attorney General’s
Office, Buckeye Electric was charged with criminal violation of the state’s
prevailing wage law. Prosecutors claimed that Buckeye Electric’s repeated
failures to pay prevailing wage could be charged as criminal acts.
Buckeye’s legal team appealed the criminal filings,
claiming that only the Ohio Department of Industrial Relations has
jurisdiction when a company fails to pay its workers in accordance with the
law. The company got a local judge and an appellate court to agree.
SUPREME COURT ALLOWS CHARGES
The Supreme Court, however, reversed the lower court rulings
and
said that prosecuting attorneys could pursue criminal
charges against Buckeye Electric and other companies who violate Ohio’s
prevailing wage law.
That paved the way for criminal proceedings against Buckeye
Electric and any other company that the state viewed as engaging in criminal
behavior when it refused to pay employees according to state law.
Unfortunately, the legal action hasn’t stopped Buckeye
from violating the law. They are repeatedly the subject of determinations by
the state that they failed to pay prevailing wage on public works jobs. These
determinations have caused delays in some projects while potential customers
wait for Buckeye Electric to pay off their bad debts to employees.
