Firm charged with deceptive practices at Drum - Army News | News from Afghanistan & Iraq - Army Times

Firm charged with deceptive practices at Drum

WATERTOWN, N.Y. — A Texas-based military contractor lured employees to a job at Fort Drum through false promises of long-term employment and health benefits, New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo said in a lawsuit filed Wednesday.

Austin-based M&E Technical Services Inc. fraudulently induced more than 100 workers to accept jobs adding armor plating to military vehicles at the northern New York Army post knowing the work would last only a few weeks and no benefits would ever be provided, Cuomo said.

“METs used lies and deceit in order to obtain a commitment from employees who were just looking for a better job,” Cuomo said.

“This company used these workers and then dropped them without fulfilling any of its promises. When any employer promises certain terms of employment in order to attract workers, the employer must stay true to its word,” the attorney general said.

Fort Drum officials referred questions to the U.S. Army Sustainment Command in Rock Island, Ill., which secured the contract with METs. Spokesman Daniel Carlson was in a meeting and not immediately available for comment.

METs President and CEO Michael Donnelly, who also was named in the lawsuit, did not respond to a telephone message seeking comment. In a letter posted on the company’s Web site Nov. 6, Donnelly acknowledged that the employees were “universally misled” and that the “mission” was “cut short.”

However, the attorney general’s lawsuit claims that METs and Donnelly always knew the “mission” would be for a short duration, and that the promises of restitution in Donnelly’s letter have not been fulfilled.

The work involved adding armor plating to combat vehicles used by U.S. troops in Afghanistan and Iraq.

U.S. Rep. John McHugh said he has asked the Secretary of the Army to investigate the matter.

Cuomo said his office began receiving complaints in September describing a persistent pattern of METs promising six months of work and health benefits while knowing the $1.51 million Fort Drum project was a short-term contract meant only to last from Sept. 16 to Oct. 14.

Most of the workers were let go within two weeks with no health insurance or even promised wages, Cuomo said.

The lawsuit claims METs was engaged in a pervasive, deliberate practice to promise workers more than was ever expected to be delivered in an attempt to have a full work force as required by its contract. It seeks to require METs to pay full restitution to employees, penalties and costs.

According to complaints received by the attorney general’s office, many employees left good-paying jobs to take the position based upon METs’ deceptive claims.

Additionally, several of the employees’ tools — which METs required them to purchase to get the job — were stolen from the job site, Cuomo said.