Painters union representative Jordan Fry speaks during a press conference called by the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office after it secured Minnesota’s first criminal wage-theft conviction. (photo by Vince Muzik)
The local Building Trades union whose organizing efforts laid the groundwork for Minnesota’s first criminal wage-theft conviction said the landmark case reflects the tip of the iceberg when it comes to worker abuses in the construction industry.
Frederick Leon Newell, a 59-year-old resident of Lakeville, was convicted April 9 of one count of wage theft and one count of theft by swindle, after a bench trial in January.
The court found that Newell’s firm, Integrated Painting Solutions (IPS), underpaid five workers on a publicly subsidized housing development in Minneapolis by a combined $37,000 for work performed between June 8 and Dec. 4, 2020.
It’s the first conviction under a state law passed in 2019 that recognized wage theft as a criminal offense. The law empowers prosecutors to seek justice for workers who, prior to the change, had to fight for damages in civil court.
At a press conference held by the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office following the conviction, IUPAT District Council 82 representative Jordan Fry said it strikes a blow against the “underground economy that seeks to destroy worker protections.”
“Most times, workers cannot defend themselves – vulnerable workers who can hardly afford to put food on the table, who cannot afford to miss one paycheck,” Fry added. “This wage-theft law serves as a beacon of hope, a law that turns wage theft from a civil-court fantasy into a criminal-court reality.”
Fry’s union, the International Union of Painters and Allied Trades (IUPAT) District Council 82, connected Newell’s victims with investigators.
In meetings nearly five years ago, union organizers confirmed the workers’ suspicions that they were being underpaid by IPS on the Redwell apartment complex.
The tactics Newell used to steal wages from his workers are familiar to worker advocates in the construction industry. IPS failed to pay prevailing wage as required by county ordinance on the taxpayer-financed project, and the firm illegally misclassified workers as independent contractors.
“Mr. Newell was entrusted with public funds to pay his staff for their labor on a public works project,” Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty said. “Instead, he siphoned their money for himself.”
Labor advocates said they hope the conviction is another step toward preventing labor abuses, particularly in the multifamily residential construction sector.
“We hope the state continues to pursue and take these cases seriously, and that it sends a message to those who benefit from the system of exploitation that exists in construction – like contractors and developers – that they also have a responsibility to take steps to prevent this from happening on their jobsites,” Brian Merle Payne, executive director of the worker center CTUL, said.
The presumptive sentence for Newell’s wage-theft conviction, according to state guidelines, is a stayed sentence of 21 months. But the court also found that Newell had committed “major economic offenses,” which may lead to a more severe sentence.
Fry said the publicity surrounding the landmark case reaches workers, too, with the message that they have rights – and advocates willing to fight for them.
“But you must come forward to tell your story,” Fry said. “We are here, and we will stand up to fight wage theft and other worker exploitation.
“We will speak out and we will stand with you, and we will not back down because we know an attack on one of us is an attack on all of us.”
– Michael Moore, Union Advocate editor
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