CCASE:
DDATE:
19891031
TTEXT:
SPARROWORLD BAPTIST CORPORATION
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[1] WAGE APPEALS BOARD
UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF LABOR
WASHINGTON, D.C.
In the Matter of
SPARROWORLD BAPTIST CORPORATION,
Contractor, & WAB Case No. 86-18
CLEVELAND B. SPARROW, SR., Dated: October 31, 1989
President
APPEARANCES: Cleveland B. Sparrow, Sr. for Sparroworld Baptist
Corporation
Claire Brady White, Esquire, for the Administrator,
Wage and Hour Division, U.S. Department of Labor
BEFORE: Jackson M. Andrews, Chairman, Stuart Rothman,
Member, and Thomas X. Dunn, Member
DECISION OF THE WAGE APPEALS BOARD
This appeal was brought before the Wage Appeals Board on the
petition of Sparroworld Baptist Corporation through its president,
Cleveland B. Sparrow, Sr., seeking review of a decision of the
Administrative Law Judge dated May 13, 1986, finding that workers
engaged by Sparroworld under contracts with the District of
Columbia for painting and welding work at certain public school
buildings were employees of petitioner and not independent
contractors as petitioner had urged, that these employees were
"laborers or mechanics" within the meaning of the Davis-Bacon Act
and it[s] applicable regulations, and ordering that wage
underpayments in the [1]
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[2] amount of $7,365.52 be paid by the contractor to the employees
in question.
This case arose from the following factual situation. In
1980, the Sparroworld Baptist Corporation, through its president,
Cleveland B. Sparrow, Sr., contracted with the District of Columbia
to perform exterior painting at three of the District's elementary
schools. A Wage and Hour investigation of the projects showed that
Sparrow had failed to pay prevailing wages and in some instances,
overtime, to individuals hired as painters, and to one person hired
as a welder, on the projects. In addition, the Wage and Hour
compliance officer found that Sparrow had failed to pay for all
hours worked, and had submitted incomplete and falsified certified
payrolls to the contracting agency.
A fact finding hearing before an[] Administrative Law Judge
(hereinafter ALJ) was held on March 25, 1986, however Cleveland B.
Sparrow, Sr., walked out of the hearing, announcing that he was ill
and would go to a doctor. The ALJ indicated for the record that
Mr. Sparrow had not produced a doctor's certificate and he found
that Sparrow's credibility was lacking. The hearing continued
without Mr. Sparrow.
At the hearing, the Administrator presented testimony of
the compliance officer who had investigated the case and of four
employee witnesses to whom most of the back wages were owed. On
May 13, 1986, the ALJ issued the aforementioned decision, holding
that Sparrow was a contractor and that the [2]
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[3] underpaid employees were laborers or mechanics within the meaning of
the Davis-Bacon Act regulations and ordering $7,365.52 in back wages to
be paid to the employees.
On July 14, 1986, Mr. Sparrow appealed the ALJ's decision to
the Wage Appeals Board, claiming among other things, that the ALJ
was motivated by racial discrimination in his decision, that he had
violated Sparrow's constitutional rights by practicing religious
discrimination against him, that the workers involved were
subcontractors, and that the claims made by the Administrator for
back wages were "insane, illogical, fraudulent."
Following review of the record of the case before the Wage and
Hour Division, the record of the ALJ's hearing and of the
Administrator's Statement filed with the Board on September 1,
1989, and various motions and other documents filed by Mr. Sparrow,
the Board set the appeal for oral hearing on October 24, 1989.
Petitioner Cleveland B. Sparrow, Sr., arrived at the Board's
hearing 15 minutes after its scheduled starting time. He remained
for 10 minutes, and when he found out, in reply to his inquiry,
that no transcripts are made of Wage Appeals Board hearings, he
walked out of the hearing room, stating that the hearing was a
"set-up".
The Board continued the hearing and heard oral argument by
counsel for the Wage and Hour Administrator.
After the hearing and a review of record of the case in [3]
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[4] the Wage and Hour Division and a review of the record of the
ALJ's hearing, the Board denies all motions of the petitioner
pending before the Board as without merit, and adopts the ALJ's
decision in its entirety. The Board finds no error in the ALJ's
hearing or decision which would warrant reversal of the ALJ's
decision. The Board hereby dismisses the Petition for Review filed
herein.
BY ORDER OF THE BOARD
Craig Bulger, Esquire
Executive Secretary,
Wage Appeals Board
Attachment
