Condominium Complex in Braintree Part of Construction Payment Dispute

A group of construction workers, including some who worked at the Jonathan's Landing development in Braintree, have filed complaints with the state Attorney General's office alleging that their employers failed to pay them thousands of dollars.

The complaints were filed by the New England Regional Council of Carpenters and the Metrowest Worker Center on behalf of the workers, news broken by the Patriot Ledger and confirmed by Braintree officials last week. They also include overtime pay violations and name as the violators Pulte Homes of New England LLC and subcontractor Nunes Brothers Construction Inc. of Worcester, according to a review of several of the documents.

One worker wrote in his complaint that he was supposed to earn $17 per hour, but after working at the Braintree condominium complex and another in Natick for several weeks had not received $4,351 in wages, plus overtime. He said that he completed 303 hours of work, was given one check for $800 and then a second for $699, which was returned showing insufficient funds.

Braintree Patch was unable to contact Nunes Brothers. A spokesman for Pulte said on Friday that the company had not received notice of the formal complaints and therefore could not comment on them.

"We paid our contractors," communications manager Eric Younan said. He added, from a statement, that "proper payment is a priority at Pulte Group" and that the company always complies with applicable law.

District 3 Town Councilor Tom Bowes said the accounts he has heard sound like a form of ransom, wherein workers put in time on the job, did not receive payment, but were then told they would be paid if they put in more time. He said he is working with Mayor Joseph Sullivan on the town's response.

Sullivan discussed the issue in a meeting with his department heads last week. So far, he said on Friday, Pulte has acknowledged that it had workers at the Braintree site in the past through the subcontractor Nunes, but is still trying to determine to what extent, if any, those workers may be owed back pay. Nunes Construction is no longer employed at Jonathan's Landing.

"We're going to continue to monitor this," Sullivan said. "We think it's important that construction projects in Braintree are held to the highest standards. People need to be paid for their work."