Obama Center subcontractor files $40M discrimination lawsuit against engineering firm for overruns

A Chicago-based subcontractor is suing 1 of the firms progressive successful managing the operation of the Obama Presidential Center for $40 million, claiming radical discriminatory practices forced the steadfast to bash other enactment that near it astatine hazard of bankruptcy, according to a lawsuit.

Robert McGee, the proprietor of II successful One, which provided factual and rebar services for the halfway starting successful 2021, filed the suit successful national tribunal past period against New York-based Thornton Tomasetti, which oversees structural engineering and plan services for the $830 cardinal project.

McGee claims that Thornton Tomasetti changed standards and imposed caller rules astir rebar spacing and tolerance requirements that differed from the American Concrete Institute standards, which resulted successful "excessively rigorous and unnecessary inspection" and monolithic overruns.

Former President Obama and his statesmanlike center (Victor J. Blue/Bloomberg, left, and Eileen T. Meslar/Chicago Tribune/Tribune News Service via Getty Images, right.)

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This, McGee, claims, incurred extended paperwork that impacted productivity and resulted successful millions successful losses, according to the lawsuit. 

However, Thornton Tomasetti defended its actions astir a twelvemonth ago, penning successful a memo to the suit that the subcontractors were "questionably qualified," and the delays were owed to their ain shortcomings.

The Obama Presidential Center is being built adjacent Jackson Park in Chicago, and volition dwell of a planned museum, library, assemblage and league facilities. The halfway volition location the nonprofit Obama Foundation, which is overseeing the center’s improvement and operates a assistance programme done the University of Chicago's Harris School of Public Policy.

McGee claims Thornton Tomasetti falsely accused II successful One of lacking capable qualifications and acquisition to execute its work, portion stating that non-minority-owned contractors were sufficiently qualified.

He is seeking to beryllium paid backmost for astir $40 cardinal successful operation costs the steadfast covered itself on with its associated task partner, Concrete Collective.

"In a shocking and disheartening crook of events, the African American proprietor of a section operation institution finds himself and his institution connected the brink of forced closure due to the fact that of radical favoritism by the structural engineer," the suit reads. 

In a memo, Thornton Tomasetti shared images of cracked slab and exposed rebar. (Lasuit)

"II successful One and its associated task partners… was subjected to baseless criticisms and defamatory and discriminatory accusations by the Obama Foundation’s structural engineer, Thornton Tomasetti.

However, Thornton Tomasetti claimed successful an attached February 2024 memo that operation costs and delays "were each unequivocally driven by the underperformance and inexperience" of that subcontractor, II successful One.

In a memo, Thornton Tomasetti shared images of cracked slab and exposed rebar.

In the memo, Thornton Tomasetti tells Obama Foundation enactment that it spent hundreds of hours reviewing, analyzing, re-designing and responding to corrective enactment and that contractors caused "a multitude of problems successful the field."

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Thornton Tomasetti said the challenges with the factual were owed solely to the show of the contractors.

"We cannot basal by portion contractors effort to blasted their ain shortcomings connected the plan team," the memo states.

The memo goes connected to authorities that Thornton Tomasetti and an architectural steadfast "bent implicit backwards to assistance what everyone knows was a questionably qualified subcontractor squad successful areas wherever much qualified subcontractor would not person required it."

The Obama Presidential Center nether operation successful the 6000 artifact of South Stony Island Avenue connected Aug. 10, 2023. (Chicago Tribune / Contributor)

The task has faced problems successful the past. Construction was initially anticipated to get underway successful 2018, but it was kicked backmost to 2021. It is scheduled to unfastened sometime successful 2026.

Some assemblage activists assertion the caller halfway volition origin prices for homes and rent to summation and whitethorn terms galore of those who unrecorded successful the area. Environmental activists person besides been captious of the project, arguing that it would region excessively galore trees and destruct immoderate vertebrate habitats.

Activists threatened to writer to artifact developments, but the program to physique the halfway was approved soon aft a suit was filed, according to Newsweek. The Supreme Court denied the petition to perceive the lawsuit successful 2021.

Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker, left, joins erstwhile President Barack Obama and erstwhile archetypal woman Michelle Obama successful a ceremonial groundbreaking astatine the Obama Presidential Center successful Jackson Park connected Sept. 28, 2021, successful Chicago, Illinois. ( Scott Olson/Getty Images)

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Obama has said helium hopes the halfway would assistance beforehand the city’s South Side and bring Chicagoans together.

The Democrat downplayed those controversies during his 2021 groundbreaking code astatine the site saying that the halfway volition "plant caller trees" and "provide caller habitats for birds and wildlife."

Fox News Digital contacted the Obama Foundation, Thornton Tomasetti and II successful One for remark but did not person responses earlier publication.

Fox News’ Michael Lew contributed to this report. 

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