RULING HITS PORTUGUESE BIZ
Suit charges ‘pressure’ led to improper benefits
Portuguese-owned construction companies can no longer be considered “minority-owned businesses” by the state, which will prevent them from participating in a government program designed to ensure that businesses owned by minorities and women are involved in public construction projects, a judge has ruled.
Superior Court Justice Douglas Wilkins found that state officials were under political pressure to improperly allow Portuguese companies to keep the minority-owned business label, and that a permanent injunction was needed.
“The circumstances that led the defendants to violate the law — pressure from firms and persons who benefit from the challenged practice — have not gone away,” Wilkins wrote in a decision issued last week. “If this case were dismissed, the strong possibility exists that, free of Court scrutiny, the defendants would have a significant incentive to succumb to that pressure and do what, apparently, is their natural inclination.”
The suit was brought against the Executive Office for Administration and Finance and other government entities by Janet Butler, president of Federal Concrete Inc., who argued that there was no evidence showing that Portuguese businesses had suffered discrimination in the construction industry.
“The program is supposed to benefit groups that have been excluded from the construction industry in Massachusetts, not big construction corporations that happen to have friends in high places,” Butler said in a statement.
Wilkins found that political pressure started to mount in 2012, when Reginald Nunnally, executive director of the Massachusetts Supplier Diversity Office, determined that Portuguese businesses would no longer be labeled minority-owned after reviewing evidence regarding their suitability. He was inundated with calls from Portuguese business owners and state legislators, and eventually, “at the behest of Governor Patrick’s office, Mr. Nunnally rescinded his decision,” Wilkins wrote.
According to court documents, state Sen. Michael J. Rodrigues and former state Rep. John V. Fernandes were among those who fought against the declassification. Fernandes, who is now a practicing attorney, didn’t respond to requests for comment.
Through a spokeswoman, Rodrigues said the issue “is very important to me, and I am working with a number of my colleagues, the administration and the Supplier Diversity Office to rectify it.”
Brendan Moss, a spokesman for Gov. Charlie Baker, said in an email that “the administration is carefully reviewing the court ruling and assessing our legal options.”
Under Wilkins’ decision, the state could re-classify Portuguese businesses as minority-owned only if “a disparity study demonstrates a ‘strong basis in evidence’ of past discrimination against Portuguese-owned businesses that would support certifying such businesses as MBEs.”