St. Andrews Presbyterian Church in Beaumont Texas is suing an architect firm for $1 million to replace its copper roof. The church filed a lawsuit on August 6th alleging Amtech Roofing Consultants, Amtech Building Sciences, Easley roofing and Sheet Metal, Easley Receivables, Easley Construction, Dohn LaBiche, Steinman and Associates Architects, Labiche Architectural Group and AR Contractors failed to render accurate plans resulting in a leaky roof.

St. Andrews accepted a proposal presented by LaBiche and Amtech to design the copper roof and Easley roofing would re-roof the church and its multiple buildings.

The Copper Roof Began Leaking

The suit states less than two years later the church roof began leaking. A few months after informing Amtech, LaBiche and Easley Roofing, the roofing company came out in November and caulked some areas then telling St. Andrews that the leak problems were repaired.

4 years later the church began experiencing significant leaks but this time Easley Roofing refused to fix the problems. Soon after words Easley Roofing sold all of its assets to AR Contractors and continued to do business out of the same location.

According to the independent consultant St. Andrews hired after receiving no help from the defendants, due to the poor design, poor workmanship and poor materials the whole roof will need to be removed and replaced with a new roof.

St. Andrews alleges gross negligence and violations of the Texas Deceptive Trade Practices Act against the defendants. No responses to the complaint have been filed yet.

A condominium complex in Shelton Connecticut was issued a stop work order after the State Department of Labor found a contractor allegedly breaking the law. JC Roofing was found not to be covering his employees under workers compensation insurance and misclassified them as roofing contractors so taxes were not taken from their checks.

The roofing company also lacked fall protection equipment. The violations were found when OSHA was investigating the fall death of one of JC Roofing company’s roofers on February of this year. Roofer Joseph Amaral fell 39 feet while installing skylights at the condominium complex; he later died at the hospital from blunt force head trauma.

Stalled Work on Condominium

Sunwood, the 168 unit condominium complex is undergoing a major renovation with new roofs, carpentry and new building paint. JC Roofing will not be able to return to the job until they prove that they can comply with the safety rules and provide workers with proper salaries and follow tax regulations. Also found was that JC Silva Remodeling LLC, also known as JC Roofing was working without a home improvement contractor registration, which again is against the law.

The United Union of Roofers, Waterproofers and Allied workers Local 26 went on strike just after the end of their last contract that expired May 31st. Korellis Roofing is one of the Northern Indiana Roofing companies being picketed. Korellis president and co-owner, Pete Korellis called local roofing contractor competitors to see if anyone could help him complete an important project.

E.C. Babilla Inc. of Gary and Gluth Brothers Roofing Co., of Hammond sent supervisory personnel to help out Korellis on the 56 unit Northtown Village Senior Apartments. The construction is due to be completed by September 30; the project developer is Community Builders Inc.

Russell Gluth of Gluth Brothers Roofing said “Basically we help one another out when you’re in need and heck, when Pete made the call and said hey, ‘I need some help’, we’re here and more than willing to give him any help that we can give him.”

Ongoing Labor Strike

Korellis recent issues during the strike include death threats called into his office, feces left on the doorstep of his home and the tires of his vehicle have been flattened.

A lawyer representing the union said this is considered an adversarial approach and only causes more tension between the union workers and the roofing contractors.

Contracts have stalled due to Indiana becoming a right-to-work state. Workers cannot be required to pay dues or other fees to a labor union as condition of employment. The union wants contractors to continue to collect union dues from workers and contractors are concerned with potential liability if members decide they don’t want to pay dues.

United Union of Roofers, Water proofers and Allied Workers Local 26 is picketing Korellis Roofing. It has been a week since the union and local contractors were at a standstill regarding the new contract.

The striking began the next day after the previous contract expired on May 31st. The union contends that contractors are using the right to work law as a reason to offer a lower increase in wage and benefits to the workers. Pete Korellis, president of Korellis Roofing says the economy is driving down the wage level, not the right to work law.

Death Threats Made To Roofing Company Owner

Korellis has delayed negotiations due to feces being left on his doorstep at his home, death threats being called in and his vehicle tires being flattened at his office. Korellis said “There needs to be accountability. Without accountability, nothing gets better. I don’t appreciate the gangster tactics that Local 26 is attempting to intimidate me with.”

An attorney for the union Don Schwartz said he is aware of the allegations and that they shouldn’t be impacting bargaining with the union. He said “The union is 100 percent in favor of only peaceful, non-violent picketing, anything other than that is not sanctioned by the union.”

Korellis said his second generation roofing company has worked with the union since opening in 1960 and believes his job is easier having workers who are union trained.

Korellis Roofing is based in Hammond Indiana with an A+ rating with the Better Business Bureau and approximately 120 employees operating in Northwest Indiana and the Chicagoland area.

John Robert Mulinski a 50 year old resident of Covington Washington was sentenced to 5 years in federal prison for defrauding victims in Montana. He faces similar charges in Washington and California.

Mulinski is also ordered to pay $138,000 in restitution to the victims he defrauded in Great Falls, Flathead Valley and Hot Springs. Between June 2010 and February 2011 Mulinski operated as a roofing contractor for Sunrise Quality Construction in Flathead Valley Montana.

Defrauded Homeowners, Subcontractors, Advertisers and Employees

In the December trial the victims said he lied about his real name, took their money and either never started or never finished the roof job. Some victims said he changed his price during the roof repair and performed work that wasn’t needed.

Other complainants were subcontractors, advertisers and employees that said Mulinski never paid them for their services.

Judge Donald W. Malloy presided over the trial where Mulinski was found guilty on wire fraud on December 9, 2011. During sentencing Mulinski apologized to his victims and said he hopes he can regain peoples trust in the future.

Wire Fraud Definition

18 U.S.C. § 1343 provides: Whoever, having devised or intending to devise any scheme or artifice to defraud, or for obtaining money or property by means of false or fraudulent pretenses, representations, or promises, transmits or causes to be transmitted by means of wire, radio, or television communication in interstate or foreign commerce, any writings, signs, signals, pictures, or sounds for the purpose of executing such scheme or artifice, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than 20 years, or both. If the violation affects a financial institution, such person shall be fined not more than $1,000,000 or imprisoned not more than 30 years, or both.

Central States roofing in Colorado Springs, Colorado has paid $110,000 in a settlement alleging they forged warranties in 2007.

Bill Hauschildt, the roofing company owner admitted to forging the warranties in over a dozen Air Force Academy roofs. He previously stated a manager had forged the warranties and that person had been fired.

The phony documents were discovered when another Air Force contractor contacted the shingles company listed on the warranty and learned they were fake.

Filed in Federal Court Last Year

The complaint was filed in Federal Court on April 18, 2011. The complaint states that instead of paying for the warranties, Central States Roofing provided false warranties to get their final payment from the Air force.

Hauschildt said “we settled everything and everyone is happy now.” He also said he is taking an ethics class to “teach me from not doing that.”