Brooklyn Contractor Pleads Guilty to Underpaying Workers at 2009 U.S. Open

Admits to denying workers more than $76K; agrees to full restitution

MINEOLA, NY –Nassau County District Attorney Kathleen Rice announced today that a Brooklyn contractor has pleaded guilty to exploiting its employees at professional golf’s 2009 U.S. Open at Bethpage State Park.

SB Waterproofing, Inc. pleaded guilty in Nassau County Court Monday to Offering of a False Instrument for Filing in the First degree. The company will pay $76,247 in restitution that will be dedicated to the workers that were not paid the prevailing rate of wage for their work at Bethpage State Park. The company has also be assessed a $500 fine and a five-year ban from doing any public work in the state of New York.

New York State law makes it mandatory for contractors to pay its workers a certain rate when performing public work.

Rice said that SB Waterproofing was awarded the contract to rebuild the conservatory and to strip and repaint the outside of the Bethpage State Park Clubhouse in time for the 2009 U.S. Open. The contract amount was $432,690.

Each of the 17 people who worked for SB Waterproofing on the project told investigators that they were not paid the project’s prevailing wage of $58.94 per hour. Some got paid below the prevailing rate while others did not get paid at all.

“For a company to steal from its employees is outrageous, and I will continue to use the power of the criminal justice system to give these workers a voice,” Rice said.

Caryn Fink of the DA’s Labor Unit is handling the case. SB Waterproofing is represented by Samuel Rieff, Esq.