Hamptons Contractor Accused Of Not Paying Prevailing Wage Speaks Out
SOUTHAMPTON, NY — A Southampton contractor indicted recently after he was accused of not paying the prevailing wage to his employees, according to Suffolk County District Attorney Ray Tierney, has spoken out in the hopes of setting the record straight, he said.
Robert Terry, 65, was indicted on charges including willful failure to pay the prevailing wage rate, after reportedly misclassifying his employees’ work categories on certified payrolls, resulting in a about $83,694 in underpayments, the DA said.
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According to the investigation, between March and August 2018, Terry was a contractor at the Davis Park Marina Improvement project, a public works contract that required the contractor to pay his employees the proper prevailing wage rate, based on the tasks that they performed on the project, Tierney said.
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Additionally, he was responsible for completing certified payrolls that affirmed he paid his employees the proper prevailing wages while they worked on the project, the DA said.
Instead, Terry is accused of classifying his employees under the wage rate for “laborers,” which is lower than the wage rate for “dock builders,” though the employees were performing tasks necessitating the higher salary rate, Tierney said.
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And, even though additional employees of Terry Contracting & Materials, Inc. worked as crane operators on the project, they were reportedly unlawfully omitted from the certified payrolls, the DA said.
After an investigation, the New York State Department of Labor determined that Terry and hiscompany owed the employees more than $80,000 for failing to pay them as dock builders, Tierney said.
Terry and his corporation, Terry Contracting & Materials, Inc. were arraigned on the indictment before Supreme Court Justice Timothy P. Mazzei on charges including one count of willful failure to pay the prevailing wage rate and supplement, and first-degree falsifying a business record, both Class E felonies; and second-degree falsifying a business record, a Class A misdemeanor, Tierney said.
Justice Mazzei ordered Terry to be released on his own recognizance because his charges areconsidered non-bail eligible under current New York State law, Tierney said.
Terry is due back in court on January 23, 2025, and faces 1 1/3 to 4 years in prison if convicted on the top count, the DA said.
“This defendant allegedly pocketed money that would have gone to his workers and their families,” Tierney said. “We will not allow unscrupulous business owners to enrich themselves by cheating workers out of their legally mandated wages on taxpayer-funded projects.”
He is represented by Michael Cornacchia, who reached out to Patch with a statement from Terry.
“I write to correct the inaccurate and false statements made by District Attorney Raymond Tierney in his press release, wherein he announced that my company, Terry Contracting and Materials, Inc. and I were charged with certain alleged criminal conduct concerning payment of our employees,” Terry wrote.
He continue: “The first, most glaring and prejudicial misstatement is that I ‘pocketed money’ that should have gone to my employees. I was portrayed as a thief exploiting my workers. I did not, nor did anyone, ‘pocket’ money belonging to our employees.”
According to Terry, the amount representing that “which is allegedly owed to our workers is being held, with our consent, by the Town of Brookhaven pending the resolution of this dispute. The charges in the indictment are the product of an ongoing dispute my company has had with the New York State Department of Labor for the last several years over whether some of our employees should have been paid as ‘dockbuilders’ rather than laborers on a project for restoring the dock at Brookhaven’s Davis Park Marina during 2018.”
Terry then responded to what he said was “another misleading statement made by the DA — that we paid our workers ‘as laborers not dockbuilders’; four of our employees were, in fact, paid as dockbuilders, given that they occupied a central role in the building of the dock. When all the facts finally come out it will be clear that just because a laborer did labor work on the dock project, it did not make them a dockbuilder deserving of commensurate pay.”
In addition, Terry said, the DA “further charges that there was a nefarious scheme to cheat two employees who operated cranes of their rightful pay. However, he omitted that one of the employees was my son who is an engineer and works as a project manager and the other was one of my partners in our business. Neither of them expected to be paid for their occasional use of a crane since they both were well compensated as company executives. Neither was cheated of any compensation, nor did they complain that they were so. The accusation by the DA that I would cheat my son and business partner is patently absurd and a distortion of the facts.”
Terry said that he started his business in Suffolk County 38 years ago, “where I continue to reside with my wife and family. We are, and have always been, a reliable, respected and honest employer. We’re proud of the work we have performed on both public and private construction projects and have never been accused of underpaying employees’ wages or hours. As a life-long member of this community who, in all my sixty-five years, has never been arrested or charged with a crime, I have great respect for our laws and those who enforce them. As such, I believe that I will receive a fair opportunity in a courtroom to prove our innocence and maintain our hard-earned reputation. While we do so, we will continue as the vibrant, growing small business, committed to our employees and the communities we serve,” Terry said.
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