AG Schwalb announced that Christian Siding, a construction company that has worked on projects across DC, must pay $725,000 to resolve allegations that the company failed to pay “prevailing wages" to workers on three publicly-funded affordable housing projects and misclassified workers as independent contractors on 13 additional projects. The Office of the Attorney General (OAG) also alleged that Christian Siding deprived these workers of overtime wages and benefits, like paid sick leave and overtime pay, that they were legally entitled to.

Under the terms of a settlement agreement, Christian Siding will pay more than $364,000 to 229 harmed workers, as well as $360,000 in penalties to the District, and will be required to make significant changes to its business practices and submit to compliance monitoring for two years.

“Failing to pay the required prevailing wage cheats both workers and DC taxpayers out of the full financial benefits of publicly-funded projects. In DC, legal accountability for prevailing wage violations extends all the way up the contracting chain—if your company or any of its subcontractors are underpaying workers, all of you can be held accountable. This settlement puts money back where it belongs and ensures that all construction firms in DC compete on a level playing field.” – AG Schwalb