New York City Comptroller William C. Thompson, Jr. announced today that his office had debarred Kelly’s Sheet Metal, Inc., a heating, ventilation and air conditioning contractor, for falsifying payroll records and failing to pay employees prevailing wages and benefits for their work at Bellevue Hospital. Comptroller Thompson also assessed an underpayment with interest and penalty of over $215,000. 

“Kelly’s Sheet Metal broke the law by cheating workers out of the prevailing wages and benefits they were owed,” said Thompson. “Kelly’s Sheet Metal’s violation was particularly egregious as it failed to pay two workers any money for their work and drastically underpaid a third worker. Kelly’s Sheet Metal is a scofflaw and will now have to deal with the consequences of its unlawful behavior by being barred from doing business with the City.”

The Health and Hospitals Corporation contracted with Kelly’s Sheet Metal, Inc. to install sprinklers, renovate air conditioning systems, and perform other work at Bellevue Hospital from November 2003 to December 2004. During that time, Kelly’s Sheet Metal failed to pay two employees any wages at all for 17 and 24 days of work and paid a third employee only $100 a day in cash.

Under the prevailing wage schedules in effect during the workers’ employment, the workers should have received a combined wage and supplemental benefit rate of over $66 an hour for performing steamfitter and sheet metal work. 

When the Comptroller’s Bureau of Labor Law began its investigation, Kelly’s denied that it employed the three workers and that they had performed work at the site. The Comptroller’s Bureau of Labor Law investigators, however, proved that Kelly’s Sheet Metal deliberately falsified payroll records to omit any reference to the workers. Investigators also found that Bellevue’s database contained evidence that the three workers had been issued photo identifications that were active from October 2003 through December 2004 and were able to use this evidence to establish that the three workers had performed work at the hospital.

Following its investigation, the Comptroller’s Office commenced a proceeding before the New York City Office of Administrative Trials and Hearings (OATH), which determined that Kelly’s Sheet Metal had willfully underpaid its employees and had deliberately falsified its payroll records and recommended that it be debarred from bidding on government contracts.

Thompson’s office assessed that Kelly’s owed the workers $172,535 in unpaid wages and interest and also assessed a penalty of $43,134.

“Prevailing wage laws exist to ensure that workers are paid fairly and equitably. It is my charge to ensure that the prevailing wage laws are obeyed. When they are not, we go after those law-breaking contractors to collect the workers’ rightful wages,” said Thompson.

The New York City Comptroller enforces State laws that require private sector companies to pay employees prevailing wages and benefits when they work on “public works” contracts with the City for construction or building services. The City Comptroller also enforces New York City’s living wage law that sets minimum wage rates for security guards employed by City contractors, home attendants, day care workers and several other job titles when they are employed by City contractors.  

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