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Press Release

Press Release AG Campbell Cites Northborough-Based Construction Company Over $700,000 For Violating Workers' Rights

Citations Include Restitution for Impacted Workers and Penalties

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For immediate release: 7/03/2025
- Office of the Attorney General
- The Attorney General's Fair Labor Division

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Media Contact

Sabrina Zafar , Deputy Press Secretary

Phone

Call Sabrina Zafar , Deputy Press Secretary at (617) 727-2543

Online

Email Sabrina Zafar , Deputy Press Secretary at Sabrina.Zafar2@mass.gov

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BOSTON — Attorney General Andrea Joy Campbell today announced that her office has issued citations against Franca Service, Inc., a Northborough-based general contracting company, and its President, David Franca, for violating various Massachusetts wage and hour laws. The citations, totaling over $744,224, include restitution for 101 impacted workers and civil penalties.

“When employers violate our laws, including by failing to make timely wage payments, the economic security of workers and their families is unfairly put at risk,” said AG Campbell. “My office will continue to enforce our laws to protect and empower workers, reminding employers that Massachusetts is serious about protecting workers’ rights.”

The Attorney General’s Office (AGO) alleges that in violation of Massachusetts’ wage and hour laws and the Earned Sick Time Law, Franca Service, Inc. failed to pay proper overtime rates for hours worked in excess of forty hours per week, misclassified 101 employees as independent contractors, failed to implement and notify workers of an earned sick time policy, and failed to maintain accurate employee payroll records.

The AGO began investigating this matter upon receiving a complaint referral from the Painters and Allied Trades District Council, Local 35.

“This is a tremendous victory for working people. The brave workers who came forward helped expose a company that was cheating more than 100 men and women out of the wages and protections they were legally owed,” said Jorge Rivera, Director of Organizing at the International Union of Painters and Allied Trades District Council 35. “We’re proud to have stood with them from day one, and we thank Attorney General Campbell and her team for taking swift action and delivering real justice.”

Massachusetts’ wage and hour laws impose various requirements pertaining to employee pay and recordkeeping, including payment of an overtime rate of 1.5x the regular rate of pay for any time worked in excess of forty hours per week, classification of workers as employees unless workers meet certain criteria for independent contractor classification, and maintenance of accurate employee payroll records.

Additionally, Massachusetts’ Earned Sick Time Law provides workers the right to earn and use up to 40 hours of job-protected sick time per year and requires employers to notify workers of this right, including through notice of the employer’s sick time policy.

This matter was handled by Assistant Attorney General Barbara Dillon DeSouza and Investigator Erin MacKenzie of the AGO’s Fair Labor Division, which is tasked with enforcing the state’s wage and hour, child labor, and other employment laws.

This matter is representative of AG Campbell’s commitment to championing workers’ rights and advancing economic justice, including within the construction industry. Since the start of her term, AG Campbell has secured over $6 million in back wages and penalties within the construction industry for violations of various state employment laws impacting thousands of construction workers.

The AGO is committed to protecting the rights of all workers, including immigrant workers, who are disproportionately vulnerable to illegal employment practices, such as wage theft and other harms. The AGO encourages workers and employers to review the AGO’s Advisory on the Rights of Immigrant Workers, The Advisory affirms that all workers, regardless of their immigration status, are entitled to employment protections, including the right to a fair wage, protection from retaliation, classification as an employee, and freedom from sexual harassment and discrimination in the workplace.

In accordance with state and federal law, the AGO works to serve and protect all workers, without regard to immigration status, does not ask about workers’ immigration status, and does not voluntarily provide workers’ personal information to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

Workers in Massachusetts who believe their workplace rights have been violated are encouraged to file a complaint with the AGO’s Fair Labor Division at mass.gov/ago/fld. For more information about the state’s employment laws, workers may call the AGO’s Fair Labor Hotline at (617) 727-3465 or visit mass.gov/ago/fairlabor for information available in multiple languages.

Media Contact

Sabrina Zafar , Deputy Press Secretary

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Phone

Call Sabrina Zafar , Deputy Press Secretary at (617) 727-2543

Online

Email Sabrina Zafar , Deputy Press Secretary at Sabrina.Zafar2@mass.gov

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Office of the Attorney General

The Attorney General is the chief lawyer and law enforcement officer of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.

The Attorney General's Fair Labor Division

The Attorney General’s Fair Labor Division protects workers from exploitation and sets a level playing field for employers. We enforce wage and hour, public construction, and child labor laws.

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Media Contact

Sabrina Zafar , Deputy Press Secretary

Phone

Call Sabrina Zafar , Deputy Press Secretary at (617) 727-2543

Online

Email Sabrina Zafar , Deputy Press Secretary at Sabrina.Zafar2@mass.gov

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