The engineering company working at the Obama Presidential Center says it claims it is racially discriminated against the project's black-owned subcontractors. This is unfounded and will not be a smear.
Thornton Tomasetti, a New York city-based structural engineering firm, was responding to an explosive lawsuit accusing him of acting with racist intent when he criticized the alleged performance of a black-owned concrete subcontractor located on a vast 19.3 acre site in Jackson Park, Chicago.
The lawsuit has attracted public attention on the diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) goals that underpin the project, which is plagued by delays and costs between the initial $350 million and the $830 million. The center aims to honor former President Barack Obama's political career, and will consist of a 235-foot Tower Museum, a branch of the Chicago Public Library and conference facilities.
The Obama Presidential Center under construction with the former President Obama. The engineering company working on the project says it claims it racially discriminated against the project's black-owned subcontractor. (Ian Forsyth/Getty Images)
The Obama Library, which started with a noble DEI goal, is currently plagued by a racially charged $40 million lawsuit, and has swelled costs.
Thornton Tomasetti previously told the Obama Foundation, a nonprofit that oversees the project, that many issues, including cracked concrete and exposed rebars, have led to correctional work, leading to the subcontractor's inexperienced and “suspectedly qualified.”
Subcontractor II said on one concrete the criticism amounted to racial bias and that it filed a $40.75 million lawsuit to recover the costs of additional work that had to carry out the demands by Thornton Tomasetti.
Watch: Drone Captures the Obama Presidential Center under construction in Chicago
In a dismissal motion filed Tuesday, Thornton Tomasetti said the lawsuit would smear it as racist “without any fragments of support” and that one concrete II would lean against minority status.
The Centre had to set DEI targets for construction contracts, with 35% of the subcontractors being minority shareholders. II in One was one of three companies that formed a 51% minority-led joint venture team.
“Plaintiffs are not spared from scrutinizing their work simply because they are minority shareholders or because the project prioritizes using services from minority-owned companies,” wrote an attorney for Thornton Tomasetti. “Instead, they have the right to be treated like other subcontractors, and there are all the mill inconsistencies and disputes that come with such projects.”
“Professional criticism is nothing more racism.”
The Obama Presidential Center is scheduled to open next year. (Fox News Digital)
Musk's Doge ends lease on the Obama Presidential Library site
II claimed that in one concrete lawsuit, it comes from a memorandum written by Thornton Tomasetti with the Obama Foundation about a year ago, and that II is one.
In the memo, Thornton Tomasetti wrote that he fixed the liability of the subcontractors and that the purpose of the memo was to protect his services. Oversees the site's structural engineering and design services.
II claims that in one concrete lawsuit, the Obama Foundation relies on memos for not paying the subcontractor about $40.75 million for “additional costs incurred.”
Aerial long shot of the Obama Presidential Center. (Fox News Digital)
II, a black man, Robert McGee, a specific owner of one person, argues that II was discriminated against “on the basis of race” and “on the basis of race” and that the plaintiffs “exposed to unfair and discriminatory conduct… directly undermines the Obama Foundation's DEI goals and commitments.”
McGee argues that Thornton Tomasetti falsely denounced II and claims it is one of the lack of sufficient qualifications and experience to do the job, but says that contractors not owned by non-plants are well qualified.
McGee's lawsuit points to II in 40 years of experience in the industry and the completion of major Chicagoland projects. McGee argues that Thornton Tomasetti has changed the standard and imposed new rules on Rebar intervals and tolerance requirements that differ from industry standards.
Obama Center subcontractors have $40 million discrimination lawsuit against engineering companies due to overrun
In his motion for rejection Tuesday, Thornton Tomasetti alleged that the rebar spacing requirement was part of the bidding document and contract specifications. Additionally, Thornton Tomasetti said there are other broader issues identified in a memo that the lawsuit did not address.
“And while plaintiffs' claims stick to the specifications of the reinforcement, they ignore the wider picture – TT (Thornton Tomasetti) flagged many other important work flaws in the memo, but the plaintiffs will not admit anything, let alone rebuttal,” read the filings on Tuesday. “The plaintiffs cannot simply pick one of the many criticisms of TT's work and lift it up as self-evident discrimination. On the other hand, TT cannot remain silent about the panoply of other issues mentioned in the memo.”
Thornton Tomasetti writes that accusing the complaint of racial bias, honour-liberal damage and illegal interference in the contract is “fatally flawed” and must be dismissed.
In a note, Thornton Tomasetti shared images of cracked slabs and exposed reinforcement. (Lawsuit)
“The plaintiffs fail to assert the facts that plausibly paint a picture of racism (no racist comments, no racist bias, no facts showing discriminatory treatment), as well as acknowledge that Thornton Tomasetti's actions are motivated. Read.
“The complaint should be dismissed and the door should be closed to the plaintiff's outrageous proposition that minority-owned companies are exempt from scrutiny, critique or the need to comply with the project specifications, but “burden.” ”
Fox News Digital contacted the Obama Foundation and requested comment from McGee representatives but did not receive a response.
The Obama Foundation previously told Fox News Digital that it was not a party to the lawsuit, claiming it would not take the delay in concrete work.
“If we believe that vendors are acting with racist intentions, we will soon take the appropriate action,” Emily Bitner, vice president of communications at the Obama Foundation, recently told Fox News Digital. The Foundation has not responded to requests for information regarding the cost of updating the project.
From left, Illinois Governor JB Pretzker joined former President Barack Obama and former woman Michelle Obama on the groundbreaking stage of a ritual held at the Obama Presidential Center in Jackson Park in Chicago on September 28, 2021. (Scott Olson/Getty Images)
Click here to get the Fox News app
The Obama Presidential Library is scheduled for some time next year, and will house digitalized documents from the gymnasium and regulated-sized NBA courts when former President Obama takes office. It will also house the Obama Foundation.
The centre is privately funded and is not considered an official presidential library, like the other presidential libraries run by the National Archives and the Records Management System. This move gives you more flexibility in terms of size, design and public space.
The Obama Presidential Library is currently located at Hoffman Estate in northwest Chicago. The Elon Musk-led Government Efficiency Bureau has ended its lease at the site but is expected to move to College Park in Maryland later this year.
Read the move to dismiss. App User click here.
