New York Attorney General Letitia James said on Wednesday that a Rochester area contractor will pay thousands of dollars to settle an allegation regarding a major school modernization project.
James said that Rochester-based construction firm, The Pike Company, will pay $125,000 as part of a settlement agreement over allegations that it violated diversity requirements in the Rochester Schools Modernization Program.
That program is a three-phase, billion-dollar project to rehabilitate Rochester city schools. The Attorney General began an investigation after getting a whistleblower complaint alleging that contractors were evading hiring requirements regarding minority and women owned businesses.
This massive project involved a state law which requires contractors working on public projects to meet certain diversity standards when hiring subcontractors.
The Pike Company issued a response on Wednesday saying that it does not agree with the Attorney General’s findings, but that it entered into the settlement to avoid protracted litigation. Pike believes its actions met the requirements of the project’s diversity plan.
James said that this week’s agreement brings the overall amount of money recovered from a total of 10 contractors involved in the project to more than $1.3 million.
