Construction Company Charged With Jilting Workers In RivCo

CATHEDRAL CITY, CA — A company that specializes in wood framing on construction projects is facing 31 criminal charges over allegations that it broke state labor laws, including violations at a public works project: Veterans Village Cathedral City.

According to an announcement Tuesday from California Attorney General Rob Bonta, between 2018 and 2022, Kentucky-based US Framing West provided framing construction for multiple projects across the state using crews of unlicensed subcontractors.

Grand theft, payroll tax evasion, prevailing wage theft, and the filing of false documents are among the filed charges against USFW.

In the criminal complaint, Bonta alleges the company failed to pay more than $2.5 million in state payroll taxes, and underpaid its workers by approximately $40,000 at the Veterans Village Cathedral City project.

On the Veterans Village project, Bonta's office alleges that USFW engaged in prevailing wage theft and filed false documents with the California Department of Industrial Relations.

Public works projects — projects that use more than $1,000 of public funds — require all workers on the project to be paid the "prevailing wage."

"California has some of the strongest worker protections in the country, but there are still too many who are willing to skirt the law to make an extra buck," Bonta said.

Veterans Village at 30600 Landau Boulevard is an affordable housing community for qualified veterans.

According to prosecutors, USFW was brought into the local project by a subcontractor. When the general contractor on the project learned that USFW workers were not earning prevailing wage, he contacted a compliance company to bring USFW up to speed and ensure state law was being followed.

Instead of playing by the rules, however, USFW continued to skirt California law by underpaying workers, and the company falsified state documents, prosecutors allege.

A Cathedral City spokesperson released an emailed statement Tuesday following Bonta's update.

"Cathedral City was encouraged by the Veterans Village Project because it provided affordable housing options for veterans in our community," spokesperson Ryan Hunt said. "The project was undertaken by a private developer that directly contracted for all construction trades necessary for the project. The City is saddened to learn that a subcontractor who may have worked on the project is alleged to have evaded state labor laws; ... [the City] will support the State Attorney General’s ongoing investigation."

In addition to the Cathedral City project, Bonta's office alleges USFW violated state labor laws and committed tax evasion on other projects in Alameda, Los Angeles, Contra Costa, Orange, Riverside, San Diego, San Francisco, and Santa Clara counties.

According to the USFW's website, it is no longer doing work in California.