NY Public Works Wage Dispute Sent to State High Court

New York’s highest court needs to answer whether employers are required to pay prevailing wages to laborers on public works projects, even if it’s not explicitly laid out in the employment contract.

The US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit on Tuesday certified the question to the New York Court of Appeals in response to a lawsuit claiming industrial contractor Comfort Systems USA Inc. failed to pay prevailing wages to electrical and sprinkler workers on public works projects.

The New York court hasn’t addressed whether a prevailing wage promise is implied in every public works contact so that laborers ...