Written on 15 April 2020.

Mortenson's $1.3M bid-rigging settlement with Colorado AG includes COVID-19 treatment facility construction | Dump Trucks Charlotte NC

Columbus Ohio Dump Truck Company Brief:

Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser announced this week that the state has settled charges of alleged bid-rigging on the $233 million Colorado Convention Center project with general contractor M.A.

Mortenson Co. for a total of $1.3 million. Mortenson has agreed to pay $650,000 to the Colorado Department of Law and donate construction services for a COVID-19 project valued at $650,000 or more in the Denver area.

In addition to the cash payment, the agreement requires Mortenson to cover all construction expenses for the as-of-yet unidentified COVID-19 project, including design costs, supervision, labor, materials and change orders that increase the project cost up to 15%. As a condition of the agreement, the officers and employees involved in the alleged bid-rigging must be actively involved in the columbus oh dump truck company or management of the COVID-19 project.

The agreement settles and ends the AG's investigation into Mortenson's actions while bidding on the convention center, and the general contractor's willingness to settle is not an admission of guilt.

Dump Trucks Columbus OH Insight:

The investigation into former project manager Trammell Crow and its representative on the convention center project is still pending. The allegations are that Trammell Crow’s rep passed confidential information about the project and bidding process to Mortenson.

The additional terms of the settlement include that Mortenson:

Take steps to ensure future compliance with the Colorado Antitrust Act;
Disclose that it is has made this agreement with the AG's office to potential clients when bidding on projects for Colorado local or state government entities for the next two years;
Disclose the same information to state and local government clients on successfully bid and pending projects for the last two years;
Strictly comply with all state procurement regulations and processes in the future;
Retain an independent construction expert to monitor the COVID-19 project;
Maintain a director of compliance to ensure Mortenson meets its obligations under the settlement;
Promote the use of minority- and women-owned businesses on public projects in Colorado; and
For the next three years submit a certification of noncollusion with each bid to state or local public agencies.

The employees involved in the convention center project must:

Make a presentation on ethics and antitrust compliance issues on public projects to the Construction Industry Ethics and Compliance Initiative (“CIECI”) Best Practices Forum that will take place in Denver in October;
Make an annual presentation for three years at a four-year Colorado college or university on the topic of ethics as it relates to the bid-rigging allegations; and
Earn a Certificate in Corporate Social Responsibility offered by the University Of Colorado Leeds School Of Business within two years.

Dan Johnson, Mortenson's president and CEO, issued a statement addressing the settlement. "While we have resolved the Colorado Convention Center matter with the Colorado Attorney General without adjudication or finding of liability, our involvement in this matter was neither consistent with who we are as a columbus oh dump truck company nor our longstanding reputation. Simply put, we did not meet our own expectations. Striving to do the right thing means learning from times when we may fall short.

"We are committed to the assurances outlined in our agreement and have made several changes to our compliance and training programs as a result. We will also share the lessons we’ve learned with others in our industry," Johnson continued. "The most immediate example of how important this relationship is to us is our commitment to the Attorney General that Mortenson will donate construction services support to help Colorado’s efforts to battle the COVID-19 pandemic."