Sapulpa City Council candidate Kent Glesener is disputing claims that his company is debarred, despite a federal labor ruling that ordered a three-year ban from certain contracts after findings of wage violations and recordkeeping issues.
The ruling, first detailed Monday morning on the Sapulpa Times Timeloop podcast, stems from a decision by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Administrative Review Board involving Paradigm Construction & Engineering, Inc., a company owned by Kent and Christie Glesener.
In a phone call with Sapulpa Times, Glesener described the matter as still under discussion. However, federal records show that the Administrative Review Board upheld an earlier decision ordering a three-year debarment for violations of the Davis-Bacon Act, which governs wage standards on federally funded construction projects. Documents supporting this ruling have been included at the bottom of this story.
The case spans more than a decade and centers on the company’s work on federally funded bridge construction projects in Oklahoma.
Findings from the Department of Labor
According to the decision, the company was found to have committed multiple violations, including:
- Falsifying certified payroll records
- Failing to pay workers on a weekly basis as required by law
- Misclassifying workers, resulting in underpayment
- Failing to maintain accurate records of hours worked
- Omitting at least one worker from payroll records
- Failing to cooperate with federal investigators
The Administrative Review Board affirmed that workers were paid based on perceived skill rather than the work they actually performed, resulting in underpayment. Testimony showed that laborers operated heavy equipment and performed skilled tasks such as tying rebar while being paid at lower laborer rates.
The ruling also found that payroll records had been altered, including the use of white-out to remove check dates and pay periods. Investigators concluded this concealed the company’s use of biweekly pay, which violates federal requirements that workers be paid at least once per week.
In addition, the board found that at least one worker was not listed on payroll records and was owed overtime wages.
The Administrative Review Board upheld a finding that the violations were “willful” and deliberate, and concluded that the company’s actions met that standard.
As a result, the company was ordered to pay $14,058.08 in back wages to 18 workers and was barred for three years from federal and federally funded construction projects.
The debarment applies to federal and federally funded construction projects under the Davis-Bacon Act. It does not automatically prohibit the company from working on purely local or privately funded projects.
Gleseners dispute claims of debarment
Kent Glesener told the Sapulpa Times in a phone call that the matter remains under discussion.
In a separate text message provided to Sapulpa Times, Christie Glesener stated more definitively that the company “is not debarred” and requested that the report be removed and corrected. She also said the couple’s attorney maintains that position.
No additional public filings have been identified that reverse or modify the Administrative Review Board’s decision. Requests to Christie Glesener to provide such documentation were declined.
