Lennar Homes Continues to Use Scandal Ridden Company

[Omaha Steve]

By Filiberto Nolasco Gomez, Workday Minnesota
November 2, 2018

LAKE ELMO
New information has surfaced that the single largest home-builder (link is external) in the Twin Cities metro area for every year since 2006, Lennar, has used American Contractors and Associates (ACA) on multiple projects.

ACA gained national attention after owner Ricardo Batres was arrested on Sept. 25 on labor trafficking charges amid horrendous working conditions described by workers. Batres regularly threatened trafficked immigrant workers with deportation if they spoke out or reported their injuries. In one case a wall fell on a worker, severely injuring his back. He was left alone for an hour before it was decided by Batres that instead of going to the doctor, he would be treated by a massage therapist.

Luis Nuñez, member of the CTUL Construction Worker Committee stated the following:

“The recent labor trafficking charges that were filed against a local construction company that worked on projects of large developers and general contractors like Reuter Walton and Lennar in the Twin Cities demonstrates the systemic nature of the problem. In construction, developers and general contractors seem to place significant downwards pressure on multiple tiers of contractors in order to increase their profit margin, often establishing a reality where subcontractors have to skirt the law in order to place the most competitive bid. In order to get to the root causes of human trafficking, we need to foster creative relationships with developers and municipalities that focus both on holding the top tiers of power accountable and on empowering workers to be able to voice their concerns without fear of retaliation.”

FULL story: https://www.workdayminnesota.org/articles/lennar-homes-continues-use-scandal-ridden-company