Two Twin Cities subcontractors have quietly wrapped up one of Minnesota's biggest recent wage-theft fights, settling a state action that left dozens of construction workers short thousands of dollars in pay. The agreement, reached this month, covers nearly 20 projects across the state and stems from labor performed between 2019 and 2022. State investigators say many of the affected workers were owed serious money, in some cases tens of thousands of dollars each.
According to the Minneapolis/St. Paul Business Journal, the settlement resolves claims involving 26 workers on 19 projects. The outlet reported that state officials said most of those workers had been underpaid by "tens of thousands" of dollars apiece, turning what might look like a paperwork dispute into a very real hit to families' finances.
How investigators built the case
The Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry spent years digging into the books, ultimately conducting an audit covering March 4, 2019 through June 5, 2022. The agency alleged that Property Maintenance & Construction LLC and Advantage Construction Inc. failed to pay required wages and overtime, and it sought about $2.4 million in back wages and liquidated damages. In December 2023, DLI filed a contested case at the Office of Administrative Hearings that laid out alleged violations on 19 separate projects, as detailed by the Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry.
Workers' accounts and the projects named
Worker advocates and the North Central States Regional Council of Carpenters said crews sometimes received cash pay, were denied overtime, and were misclassified, practices that can conveniently hide unpaid wages over long stretches of time, as reported by Minnesota Reformer. The allegations reached into some high-profile developments, including the Viking Lakes project in Eagan and several Twin Cities apartment and senior-living sites. Developers such as MV Ventures told reporters they cooperated with investigators and said they expected their subcontractors to follow the law.
Legal fallout and prior enforcement
The legal trouble did not stop with the wage claims. The attorney general's office separately sued PMC and its owner in 2022 for obstructing parts of the investigation and has coordinated enforcement efforts with DLI, according to a press release from Attorney General Keith Ellison's office. The case played out against the backdrop of Minnesota's Wage Theft Prevention Act, passed in 2019, which strengthened civil and criminal penalties for employers that withhold pay and expanded enforcement authority for state agencies.
What this settlement could change
Advocates and some lawmakers say the saga underscores the need for stronger transparency tools on public projects, including a proposed statewide payroll-reporting portal that would be designed to curb wage theft, per Session Daily. While the settlement finally brings these long-running claims to a close for the 26 workers involved, worker groups argue it also spotlights gaps in monitoring and the need for more resources to enforce basic pay protections across Minnesota's construction industry.
