Minneapolis Electric Company Accused of Swindling Workers

Two partners in an electrical contracting firm in Minneapolis face felony charges for violating prevailing wage laws by underpaying their workers. C&S Electric is accused of cheating workers out of about $250,000.

C&S had won a subcontract from Donlar Construction Company to perform electrical work for Normandale Community College’s Kopp Student Center project, according to a report from Workday Minnesota. The complaint said that C&S submitted false payroll records to Donlar certifying that C&S workers were being paid prevailing wages.

“Through the defendants' false representations to Donlar Construction that the employees were being paid the prevailing wage rate, the defendants fraudulently obtained funds under a subcontract between C&S Electric and Donlar Construction,” the complaint read.

C&S was the low bidder for the electrical work on the Normandale project, the complaint read. And Workday Minnesota reported that C&S formerly operated as Wright Electric and had a long history of problems paying area standards for wages and benefits, said Dan McConnell, business manager of the Minneapolis Building and Construction Trades Council. “They’ve been in the spotlight for some time.”

The felony charges against Thomas Robert Clifton, Lake Elmo, and Earl Keith Standhafer, Burnsville, partners in C&S Electric, carry a maximum sentence of 20 years’ imprisonment and/or a $100,000 fine.