Judge, state withhold money over underpaid labor claims

Friday, March 24, 2000 | 12:05 p.m.

CARSON CITY -- A federal judge has allowed the state labor commissioner to go forward with hearings to determine if two contractors on the Spaghetti Bowl construction project in Las Vegas failed to pay the required prevailing wage to some of its workers.

The state Transportation Department withheld $249,000 in payments from Meadow Valley Contractors and Walters & SCI Construction on grounds some 20-25 workers in the precast yards were underpaid.

The companies filed suit seeking to stop Nevada Labor Commissioner Terry Johnson from holding a hearing to determine if there was a violation and to force the state to pay the $249,000.

U.S. District Judge Philip Pro denied the request for an injunction. Deputy Attorney General Dianna Hegeduis said the judge also dismissed the complaint against the state and the individual state officials named as defendants.

The contractors maintained prevailing wages were not required for the workers at the precast yard, located on Buffalo Drive, as the precast bridge segments were being constructed there rather than at the site of the actual project.

They also said the labor commissioner's office violated the contractors' various constitutional rights by requiring the companies to pay prevailing wages to the precast yard workers.

Hegeduis said the decision bolsters the legislative intent behind the prevailing wage law, which is to assure a decent wage for local residents who are hired for public works projects. The prevailing wage is usually the union level of pay