...Union uncovers wage theft at Pearl District apartment
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perience in construction.
C2 and New Heights are certified as
a Women’s Business Enterprise (WBE)
— a designation that makes it a more
attractive bidder on public and private
projects that track utilization of women
and minority contractors. To be certi-
fied, a woman must own at least 51 per-
cent of the company, be president or
CEO, and be active in daily manage-
ment.
In 2010, Errin Caudle ran unsuc-
cessfully for Hillsboro City Council,
promising to eliminate “needless gov-
ernment regulation and intervention.”
“As an owner of a small business, I un-
derstand the importance of fiscal ac-
countability through honest and trans-
parent management practices,” she said
on her now-defunct campaign web site.
Reached by phone, the Caudles
gave contradictory explanations of
what happened. Errin Caudle said she
wasn’t in charge of the job at The
Parker, and that her husband handled
the project. Gordon, meanwhile, said
the foreman was in charge of the proj-
ect. Gordon Caudle said he was just the
bookkeeper, never set foot on The
Parker construction site until the DOL
investigation, and never met most of his
own employees. He alternately blamed
the general contractor, his foreman, and
his workers, for what happened.
“We put too much faith in Felix,”
Gordon Caudle said. [Caudle also said
he didn’t have Felix’ phone number on
him, though he’d worked with him for
seven years.]
Caudle said he paid at the prevailing
wage rate for the number of hours
listed on the time cards he received
from Felix. At one point in the inter-
view, Caudle implied that Felix might
have falsified time cards in order to
spread the work around. Caudle said
Lorentz Bruun never once let him
know that C2 guys were on the job for
more hours than the certified payroll in-
dicated. [Indeed, it’s part of a construc-
tion manager’s job to keep track of
who’s on a job site and when.] Later,
Caudle suggested the employees had-
n’t really worked full-time, and didn’t
complain until they were due to be laid
off as the project was winding down.
[C2 remained on the job until mid-Sep-
tember, Caudle said.] If this theory is to
be believed, then eight semi-skilled im-
migrants from Mexico were savvy
enough about U.S. law to convince a
team of federal investigators to believe
them over sworn certified payroll
records kept by C2 and Lorentz Bruun.
Gordon Caudle said C2 was invited
to bid on The Parker job by Lorentz
Bruun, and hadn’t worked for them be-
At the The Parker
Apartments, 1447 NW 12th
Avenue in Portland, monthly
rents range from $1,323 for a
497-square-foot one-bedroom
to $3,078 for a 1,097-square-
foot two-bedroom. The
project was constructed with
a loan guarantee from the
U.S. Department of Housing
and Urban Development.
Pictured here at Sept. 22
grand opening, a living room
has a view of the Fremont
Bridge, across from a kitchen
with custom cabinetry and
Energy Star stainless steel
appliances.bedroom
apartment.
fore. He said the contract was for about
$300,000, to paint walls and doors in a
177-unit, 200,000 square foot building.
Bruun says his company will more
carefully vet its subcontractors in the
future. Should Lorentz Bruun have
known C2 wouldn’t be able to do the
project for what it was paid? Bruun
said there were no red flags, and that
C2 came in at within 10 percent of
other bidders.
It’s not clear yet whether the De-
partment of Labor will pursue other
sanctions against C2, like debarment
from future government projects. Clark
said that decision depends on the facts
of each case and how egregious viola-
tions are. As of press time, C2 workers
were still waiting to hear from the De-
partment of Labor about the settlement.
“C2 stole money from us,” said Gar-
cia. “It’s not right.”
The $85,000 settlement would cover
the underpayment on the hours they
worked, but it won’t compensate them
for the wages they lost when they were
terminated — or the emotional impact
and stress of joblessness, of not know-
ing where they’d go next or how to sup-
port their families. All six workers in-
terviewed for this story have found
other work since leaving C2.
The Parker, meanwhile, held its
grand opening Sept. 22. The HUD-as-
sisted apartment project will fit right
into Portland’s affluent Pearl District.
It’s LEED Platinum Certified, with a
workout facility, coffee bar, dog-wash-
ing area, a bicycle repair station and
180 bicycle stalls, and an underground
parking garage with 181 parking
spaces. Units have walk-in-closets and
gourmet kitchens with custom cabi-
netry and Energy Star stainless steel ap-
pliances. Monthly rents range from
$1,323 for a 497-square-foot one-bed-
room apartment to $3,078 for a 1,097-
square-foot two-bedroom.
As for the Caudles, they say they’re
closing their business. “This economy
is killing me,” Errin says. “It’s not
worth it any more,” adds Gordon. They
didn’t say what’s next for them, but
state business records show Errin Cau-
dle registered a medical marijuana dis-
pensary in March, and there’s fresh
paint at 9046 NE Sandy Boulevard,
listed in a July 26 corporate filing as the
principal business location for her new
venture, Evergreen Medicinals.
Quoteable:
“Nobody will ever deprive the
American people of the right to vote
except the American people them-
selves and the only way they could
do this is by not voting.”
— Franklin D. Roosevelt,
32nd President of the United States
Oregon Voters —
Oct. 14 is the last day to
register to vote in the 2014
General Election. Election
Day is Nov. 4.
OCTOBER 3, 2014
NORTHWEST LABOR PRESS
PAGE 15