Owner Of Portsmouth Construction Company Admits To Stealing Wages

PORTSMOUTH, RI — The owner of a Portsmouth construction company admitted in Newport County District Court to stealing $1,500 in wages from two former employees.

Ronald Harnois, 43, was sentenced Tuesday on two counts of failure to make payment to an employee upon separation and one count of check fraud. He was ordered to pay his former employees what he owed them and was sentenced to a year of probation. Harnois has since paid the full restitution, the Rhode Island Attorney General's office said.

Harnois owns Roharn Construction and admitted to failing to pay two former employees for work performed in August and September 2018. He owed one former employee $731 and another $818. Harnois also issued a check for payment of wages that was later returned for insufficient funds.

The case was referred to the Office of the Attorney General by the Department of Labor and Training, following the Department's attempts to prompt Harnois to pay the unpaid wages.

In 2021, Attorney General Peter Neronha worked with state lawmakers to introduce legislation to bolster protections for workers in Rhode Island. The proposed legislation called for increased penalties for perpetrators of wage theft. The legislation ultimately did not pass during the 2021 legislative session and is planned to be reintroduced next session.