Suffolk recovers $750G in wages owed to workers at construction companies, other county businesses, DA says
At a news conference Thursday morning in Hauppauge. Suffolk County District Attorney Ray Tierney, surrounded by labor officials, announces that wage theft investigations resulted in numerous convictions and payments of significant restitution. Credit: Danielle Silverman
Suffolk County has recovered more than $750,000 in wages and contributions owed to workers and state agencies by companies that shortchanged them, authorities announced Thursday.
Suffolk County District Attorney Ray Tierney said seven businesses, including two construction companies and a car wash, had failed to pay workers legally required wages.
Some work was done for school districts, and other projects involved government-owned marinas and beaches.
The seven companies named by the Suffolk district attorney either declined to comment, could not be reached or did not return messages.
WHAT TO KNOW
- Suffolk County has recovered more than $750,000 in wages and contributions owed to workers and state agencies by companies that shortchanged them.
- Suffolk County District Attorney Ray Tierney said seven businesses, including two construction companies and a car wash, had failed to pay workers legally required wages.
- Some work was done for school districts, and other projects involved government-owned marinas and beaches.
“Suffolk County residents who work hard to earn an honest living deserve to be compensated fairly for their hard work,” Tierney said at a morning news conference, surrounded by labor leaders.
In one case, Jernail Singh, the owner of MH One Enterprise, a gas station and convenience store in Brentwood, underpaid employees from October 2015 to January 2019. Singh, 64, of Glen Head, allegedly bullied one employee by threatening to contact immigration authorities and falsely report him to the police for a crime he did not commit, Tierney‘s office said.
Singh pleaded guilty on July 6, 2022, to second-degree scheme to defraud and paid nearly $240,000 in restitution to his employees and the New York State Department of Labor. He was sentenced to three years of probationary supervision.
Another firm, Tri-State Construction of New York Corp. of Flushing, Queens, worked on a capital improvement project for the Huntington school district. Between June and August 2018, the construction company failed to pay its employees the mandated prevailing wage or overtime wages, the district attorney's office said. The company pleaded guilty on March 28, 2022, and paid back $121,530 in restitution to 14 employees.
Alpha Carting & Contracting Services Inc., a Bay Shore garbage collection company, systematically underpaid four employees while working for the village of Lake Grove from June 2016 to May 2018, Tierney‘s office said. The corporation pleaded guilty on Aug. 30, 2022, to second-degree scheme to defraud and paid $96,732 to the affected employees and the New York State Department of Labor.
Another construction company, Woodstock Construction Group LTD of Bayville, also broke wage laws while working on the Gilgo Beach Marina dock reconstruction project for the Town of Babylon, and the Bayport Beach breakwater and reconstruction project in the Town of Islip.
From November 2016 to May 2017, Woodstock misclassified 19 employees and failed to pay them the prevailing wage rate and overtime. On July 13, 2022, the company pleaded guilty to second-degree scheme to defraud, conditioned on the corporation paying back $66,776 to its employees.
The Dix Hills Car Wash failed to pay its employees the statutory minimum and overtime wage rates between 2014 and 2017. The company also submitted a fraudulent New York State Department of Labor form to avoid paying unemployment contributions.
The company pleaded guilty on March 23, 2022, to second-degree offering a false instrument for filing and paid $120,000 in restitution to its 11 employees and reimbursed the New York State Unemployment Insurance Fund.
Goldstar Installation Services Inc., or The Floor Worx of NY Inc., based in Selden, misclassified 12 employees who worked on Suffolk County public works projects from July 2016 to July 2019 to avoid paying the mandated prevailing wage rate.
Both the corporation and its principal agent, Paul Gilistro, 59, pleaded guilty on April 7, 2022, to second-degree scheme to defraud. The defendants paid $40,000 upfront in restitution to the victims, with an additional $40,000 to be paid through probation.
APJ Restoration Inc., of St. James, knowingly underreported its gross sales on documents submitted to the New York State Insurance Fund (NYSIF) between August 2015 and August 2016.
The corporation and its principal agent, Alan James, 71, pleaded guilty on April 29, 2022, to second-degree falsifying a business record. James is due back in court for sentencing on March 27. The defendants agreed to pay $32,575.63 owed in workers’ compensation insurance premiums due to the NYSIF.
A task force comprised of Tierney‘s office, the New York State Department of Labor, the New York State Insurance Fund and the Suffolk County Police Department conducted the investigation into the underpayments.
Authorities said some of the workers who were taken advantage of were undocumented immigrants who were often afraid to come forward to complain.
New York State Department of Labor Commissioner Roberta Reardon said, “Any employer who steals from their workers will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law in New York State."
