Gray v. Department of Labor

531 N.E.2d 32, 176 Ill. App. 3d 285, 125 Ill. Dec. 853, 1988 Ill. App. LEXIS 1715
CourtAppellate Court of Illinois
DecidedNovember 21, 1988
DocketNo. 3-87-0710
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 531 N.E.2d 32 (Gray v. Department of Labor) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Appellate Court of Illinois primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Gray v. Department of Labor, 531 N.E.2d 32, 176 Ill. App. 3d 285, 125 Ill. Dec. 853, 1988 Ill. App. LEXIS 1715 (Ill. Ct. App. 1988).

Opinion

JUSTICE SCOTT

delivered the opinion of the court:

This is an appeal from the circuit court of Kankakee County which affirmed a decision of the defendant, Illinois Department of Labor, which found the plaintiffs, Robert Gray and John Gray, d/b/a Gray’s Material Service, guilty of violating certain provisions of “An Act regulating wages of laborers ***” (Illinois Prevailing Wage Act or Act) (Ill. Rev. Stat. 1985, ch. 48, pars. 39s — 1 through 39s — 12) and which further ordered the plaintiffs debarred from any public work contracts for a period of two years.

The factual situation which resulted in this litigation discloses that Gray's Material Service was a partnership owned and operated by Robert Gray and John Gray. The plaintiffs, Robert and John Gray, had been doing business for some 20 to 25 years. The bulk of the work ■ performed involved public work projects consisting of oil and chip work.

In the summer of 1985, the Grays were awarded three public works contracts in Kankakee County. While performing work required by these contracts the defendant, Illinois Department of Labor (De- . partment), pursuant to a complaint received, conducted an investigation of alleged violations by the Grays of the Illinois Prevailing Wage Act. Specifically, the defendant Department charged that the Grays had failed to pay their employees the prevailing wages and overtime as required by the contracts awarded to them by Kankakee County and that the Grays had maintained false and incorrect records of their employees’ hours and wages.

As heretofore noted, the defendant Department’s charges were upheld in an administrative hearing and the decision was affirmed by the circuit court of Kankakee County.

The plaintiffs raise several issues in this appeal, the first being that the defendant Department’s decision to debar plaintiffs from public works contracts for a period of two years is against the manifest weight of the evidence.

In addressing this issue it is necessary to set forth some of the evidence adduced at the administrative hearing. It is not disputed that the contracts awarded the Grays contained the following provisions:

“The contractor will be required to pay all laborers, workmen, and mechanics performing work under this contract a rate of pay which is not less than the prevailing wage rate as found by the Kankakee County Board or the Department of Labor, or as determined by the court on review.”

Nor is it disputed that on July 10, 1984, the Kankakee County board adopted a resolution which established the prevailing hourly wage rates and other employee benefits that were in effect on the dates when the contracts were awarded to the plaintiffs, Robert and John Gray.

The plaintiffs employed power broom operators, roller operators, and drivers of semis and single axle trucks, distributors and chippers in order to oil and resurface the public roads set forth in the contracts awarded to them by Kankakee County.

At the hearing, John Gray testified that he was in charge of 8 to 10 men who worked on the project, and as crew foreman it was his job to keep track of their hours and to calculate their wages. John Gray further testified that he used a 1982 Kankakee County board resolution, even though the contracts had been awarded in 1985. On cross-examination he admitted that he should have used a 1984 board resolution, but that he had never contacted the county clerk’s office to see if there was a resolution more current than the one of 1982. He (John Gray) further admitted that he paid the wage rate of $16.12 per hour (the rate for a laborer) to all of his employees regardless of their classification, even though power broom operators, truck drivers and roller operators were entitled to a higher rate.

John Gray not only used the 1982 county resolution instead of the 1984 county resolution, but he testified that he “didn’t see” the other job categories and that the laborer wage rate was used for everybody because it was the easiest to figure.

Without going into detailed examples, of which there were many, the evidence disclosed that the plaintiff John Gray paid five employees for working from 8 a.m. to anywhere from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. He testified that the employees were “stragglers” in reporting for work and after 2 p.m. or 3 p.m. the employees just sat around drinking beer. This testimony was contradicted by the five employees and the Kankakee County Highway Department engineers. The evidence supports the conclusion that the employees’ workday began at 5:30 a.m. and concluded at 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. The employees were never given lunch or rest breaks.

The evidence further discloses that the plaintiffs were not strangers to the provisions of the Illinois Prevailing Wage Act. In 1980 a complaint was filed against them for failure to pay employees prevailing wages. The case was settled by a payment from the plaintiffs to the employees in the sum of $3,000. The significance of this prior violation is that the plaintiffs were advised by Mr. Wierman, an employee of the Department of Labor, that they (plaintiffs) must pay their employees the prevailing wage and from the time they reported to work at the shopyard where.they loaded up supplies and not from the time the employees reached the jobsite. Mr. Wierman further testified that he had similar discussions with the plaintiffs almost every year after the 1980 incident but they continued to violate the Act.

The plaintiffs attempt to explain their conduct by claiming that they were ignorant of the law and that John Gray, because of the volume of work, had to assume the clerical duties for which he had no experience or training.

In light of the fact that plaintiffs had been in business for some 20 to 25 years, their attempted explanation of these violations resulting from underpaying employees is not persuasive.

Reviewing courts will not reweigh the evidence or substitute their judgment for that of the agency but are limited to a determination whether the final decision of an administrative agency is just and reasonable in light of the evidence presented. (Davern v. Civil Service Comm’n (1970), 47 Ill. 2d 469, 269 N.E.2d 713.) If there is substantial evidence to support an agency’s decision the decision must be affirmed. Lo Piccolo v. Department of Registration & Education (1972), 5 Ill. App. 3d 1077, 284 N.E.2d 420.

In the instant case the hearing examiner entered a 24-page opinion, which ruled that the Department of Labor had proved “by an overwhelming preponderance of the evidence” that the plaintiffs had violated provisions of the Illinois Prevailing Wage Act. We agree.

The plaintiffs further argue that the Prevailing Wage Act attempts to distinguish differently employees who transport material to construction sites based upon who they are employed by, in violation of the equal protection clause of the United States Constitution.

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Bluebook (online)
531 N.E.2d 32, 176 Ill. App. 3d 285, 125 Ill. Dec. 853, 1988 Ill. App. LEXIS 1715, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/gray-v-department-of-labor-illappct-1988.