Small construction firms included in paycheck protection loan program after all

2020-04-14T11:23:00-04:00

New guidance from the Treasury Department appears to allow any U.S. firms with 500 or fewer employees to qualify for the Small Business Administration's Paycheck Protection Program regardless of revenue, according to the Associated General Contractors of America (AGC). The initiative was created as part of the $2 trillion coronavirus rescue bill enacted late last month.

According to Construction Dive, President Donald Trump's administration released the new guidance April 7th after the AGC raised concerns that many small construction firms appeared to be excluded from the initially drafted program.

Connecticut contractor ordered to pay $3M for racial discrimination, harassment

2016-04-04T13:06:00-04:00

A painting contractor based in New England has been ordered to pay two former employees more than $1.5m each by a court in New Haven, Connecticut. The court ruled that the company had discriminated against the men on racial grounds.

The lawsuit alleged that a Sudanese-American employee, Yosif Bakhit, and an African-American employee, Kiyada Miles, of the firm Safety Marking faced a "pattern of abuse," racist harassment including insults and slurs, and racial discrimination, including being passed over for promotions that were instead given to less qualified white employees.

According to allegations, a caucasian colleague painted Miles' arm white and said to him, "That’s the only way you are going to move up in the company.” Bakhit reported an incident in which a foreman asked him to open an aspirin bottle then said, “I just wanted to see a black man pick cotton.”

Following a two-week trial, a federal jury ordered Safety Marking to give $1.4M in punitive damages to each man, as well as compensation from former colleagues named in the lawsuit.

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Small construction firms included in paycheck protection loan program after all

Connecticut contractor ordered to pay $3M for racial discrimination, harassment