Business Law News Headlines

Two Michigan Construction Firms Agree To Pay U.S. $11.75 Million

Two Michigan construction companies have agreed to pay the United States $11.75 million to resolve claims that they knowingly violated Disadvantaged Business Enterprise (DBE) contracting requirements for federally funded construction projects at Detroit Wayne County Metropolitan Airport, the Justice Department announced today. The DBE program provides assistance to businesses owned by minorities, women, and other socially and economically disadvantaged individuals to enter the highway construction and design industries.

Ajax Paving Industries Inc. and Dan's Excavating Inc. agreed to pay the United States to settle False Claims Act and administrative claims involving alleged misrepresentations about the amount of DBE contracting work performed by a concrete-supply DBE, Borbolla Construction & Concrete Supply, Inc. Ajax and Dan’s acted as prime contractors on three federally funded highway construction contracts at the Detroit Airport.

Under these contracts, Ajax and Dan’s were required to comply with the Department of Transportation’s (DOT) DBE regulations and accurately report their DBE contracting to obtain and maintain the construction contracts. The companies claimed Borbolla Construction performed substantial work on the contracts when Borbolla Construction actually performed little more than minor administrative tasks. Read more at usdoj.gov.

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	Did You Know?
	Negligence can relate to business activity Negligence is a tort, meaning it is a kind of wrongful act giving rise to a civil court action, usually for damages. Business activity can give rise to negligence in many different ways, for example, through selling defective goods or defective services. To show there has been negligence a plaintiff (someone bringing a case of negligence against a company) must prove the company had a legal duty of care, was in breach