Attorney General Martha Coakley’s Office has reached a settlement agreement with a Dorchester asbestos abatement company for intentionally failing to pay the prevailing wage and for intentionally failing to pay overtime at various public construction sites in Massachusetts. Neal Cass, age 59, of Dorchester, and his company, Nealco Environmental Services, Inc. (Nealco), have agreed to pay $12,000 in fines and a total of over $122,200 in restitution to employees for the violations. In addition, Cass and Nealco have agreed to pay $6,000 in fines for the intentional failure to submit true and accurate certified payroll records to local awarding authorities at three public construction projects and $2,000 in fines for failure to submit certified payroll records on a weekly basis. Cass and his company have also agreed to refrain from bidding on, or contracting for, public construction work in the Commonwealth for a period of two years.

In August 2008, the Attorney General’s Fair Labor Division received a complaint alleging that Cass and Nealco had failed to pay the prevailing wage for asbestos removal work at various public construction projects throughout the Commonwealth. The Attorney General’s Office began an investigation and determined that Cass and his company had failed to pay appropriate wages under the law, including:

* From October 2007 to February 2008, Cass and Nealco failed to pay 31 employees the prevailing wage at the Taunton Riverside Apartments complex, a public works project in Taunton. Cass and Nealco have agreed to pay nearly $40,800 in restitution to the affected employees who worked on that project. From February 2007 to July 2007, Cass and Nealco failed to pay 23 employees the prevailing wage at the Buena Vista Housing project (Buena Vista) in Devens, a public works project. Cass and Nealco agreed to pay over $30,800 in restitution for that project. Cass and Nealco also agreed to pay seven of the employees at the Buena Vista project over $10,000 in unpaid overtime.
* From December 2007 to June 2008, Cass and Nealco failed to pay 17 employees the prevailing wage at the Rainbow Apartments project, a public works project in Salem. Cass and Nealco agreed to pay over $37,500 in restitution for that project.

Although employees were not paid the prevailing wage rate on these three projects, the certified payroll records that Cass and Nealco submitted to the awarding authorities stated that the employees were paid the prevailing wage.

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