BOSTON (Legal Newsline) - Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley has secured an $85,000 settlement with a landscaping contractor over violations of state wage laws.

Arello, Inc., will pay almost $25,000 in civil penalties and $60,000 in restitution as a result of the agreement. It had been cited for intentionally failing to pay the prevailing wage to 18 employees who worked on public construction projects.

Coakley began the division in July 2007, after her Fair Labor Division conducted a site visit at a construction project at Algonquin Regional High School.

Other projects that were investigated were:

-A highway project on Route I-395;

-A highway project in Wayland;

-Airport Park Ball Field in Grafton;

-A Public Works and Economic Development project in Worcester; and

-Upper Charles Bikeway in Milford.

The company had previously been cited in 2001 for not submitting certified payroll records for work on a public construction project in Worcester.

Coakley said the state's prevailing wage laws allow contractors bidding on projects to enjoy a level playing field by standardizing the rate of pay workers will earn.

From Legal Newsline: Reach John O'Brien by e-mail at john@legalnewsline.com.