To read about our year-end Best of The Florida Independent series, click here. For complete coverage, click here.
The story:The Florida Independent’s Marcos Restrepo broke news in August that between 40 and 45 construction workers at a South Florida site were being stiffed out of wages they were owed for weeks of labor. Restrepo identified many of the companies involved in the wage theft (Pozo Construction, Florida Shell Construction and BJ&K Construction), each of whom blamed others on the project for the missing money.
The impact:After Restrepo’s initial story, the workers began exploring their legal options, and Restrepo’s stories inspired a representative from a local wage theft task force to assist them by meeting with them and a lawyer. Three days after Restrepo’s first piece appeared, the lead developer on the project, the Carlisle Development Group, issued a stern statement on the debacle, promising to make the situation right. “We are taking immediate and aggressive steps to address this issue,” the company wrote, promising to make the payments that were forthcoming later that same day.
To read about our year-end Best of The Florida Independent series, click here. For complete coverage, click here.
