Charges Bound Over Against Central PA Contractor Accused of Underpaying Workers

CLEARFIELD – A central Pennsylvania mechanical contractor has been accused of underpaying workers by more than $64,000 in wages and benefits for at least five years.

In September, more than 100 charges were filed against Scott C. Good, 56, of State College and Goodco Mechanical, which performed public works projects in Clearfield, Centre and other counties.

The charges stem from a 21-month grand jury investigation into theft allegations on a $16 million public works project in Clearfield County in 2014, according to the Attorney General’s office.

Good and his company violated prevailing wage laws by underpaying wages and claiming unlawful benefits credits on the PennDOT project, according to the AG’s office.

Additionally, Good was previously vice president for Allied Mechanical & Electrical Inc., which violated prevailing wage laws in 2006, AG Josh Shapiro said in a previously-published news release.

He said that the company was sanctioned by the Pennsylvania Department of Labor & Industry for the same practice that Good is accused of at Goodco.

“Pennsylvania’s prevailing wage laws are designed to protect workers and ensure an even playing field in the bidding process for government contracts,” Shapiro said.

“The defendants are charged with violating these laws and cheating our hardworking laborers out of thousands of dollars in wages and benefits.

“[He] already knew his conduct was illegal because his former company was sanctioned for similar violations more than a decade ago, yet he brazenly flouted the law again.”

The grand jury found that Good directed journey electricians and plumbers to record portions of their work hours as lower paid laborers, according to the AG’s office.

For example, a certified electrician who worked for 10 hours in one day was allegedly directed to report nine hours of work as an electrician and one hour as a laborer.

Laborers are paid $20 less an hour than electricians, according to the AG’s office.

The grand jury also reportedly found that Goodco reduced the total amount it had to pay towards fringe benefits by crediting itself hourly vacation benefits that employees didn’t use.

As a result, workers were reportedly paid the incorrect rate and also had money withheld from their benefits.

The grand jury believed Goodco underpaid its employee more than $200,000 since 2010, but couldn’t file charges for these alleged thefts due to the statute of limitations, according to the AG’s office.

Through this “massive” scheme, Good reduced labor costs and bid for projects that had lower wage and fringe benefits costs, according to the AG’s office.

All charges against Good and his company were bound over to county court after a preliminary hearing Friday before Magisterial District Judge Mike Morris. Good is free on $50,000 unsecured bail.