ALBANY, N.Y. (Legal Newsline) — New York Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman announced Jan. 9 that Johnson Controls will pay $341,000 to resolve allegations of submitting falsified training certifications when bidding for state contracts in the Albany area.
Johnson Controls recently bid for a heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) maintenance contract for the State Department of Health’s Wadsworth Laboratory and the Harriman State Office Building. The company learned of alleged misconduct by its employees in relation to the bid, and self-reported the incident to Schneiderman’s office. It reported that employees had submitted several forged training certifications.
Johnson Controls admitted wrongdoing, and will pay $299,000 in refunded profits earned while completing work on relevant contracts. Additionally, the company will pay $42,000 in New York State False Claims Act penalties.
“New York taxpayers deserve honesty and integrity in the state procurement process, and my office will continue to ensure that companies are held accountable,” Schneiderman said."It’s far better for violators to voluntarily disclose wrongdoing than to wait for our office to come knocking.”
Handling the case for New York was assistant attorney general Justin Wagner of the Taxpayer Protection Bureau, with assistance from legal support analyst Bianca M. LaVeglia.