In Landeros v. California Department of Corrections, 2002 WL 1277814, the California Court of Appeal, Fourth District, faced the issue of whether construction workers could recover prevailing wages from the California Department of Corrections (Department) for work being performed on one of its projects.
Appellate Court Holding
Pursuant to statute, Department, as the awarding body of a public works contract, was required to enforce prevailing wage law and to obtain a payment bond covering the obligation to pay prevailing wages. The workers claimed in their lawsuit that Department failed to fulfill these requirements.
Acknowledging that a government entity may not be sued under Government Code
§ 815.6 for violating its mandatory duty under the prevailing wage law, Aubry v. Tri-City Hospital District, 2 Cal. 4th 962 (1992), the workers nevertheless claimed that they could sue Department for failing to approve an adequate bond covering the obligation to pay prevailing wages. The Court rejected this argument because Department had discharged its statutory duties. The contract between Department and Marantha required Marantha (1) to comply with prevailing wage requirements, and (2) to furnish Department with a payment bond, which Marantha did. Furthermore, the Department’s determination of the amount of the bond was discretionary not mandatory.
The Court also rejected the workers’ breach of contract claim based on the argument that they were third-party beneficiaries of the agreement between Department and Marantha. According to the Court, regardless of how the workers’ characterized their claims, whether based on tort or contract, “Department could not be held liable for failing to discharge its mandatory statutory duty to ensure compliance with the prevailing wage law.”
Conclusion
As a general rule, construction workers on a public project cannot recover prevailing wages from a public entity on either a tort or contract theory.