Whatcom man sues Bellingham, city official for alleged discrimination during project
A Whatcom County man has filed a civil lawsuit against the City of Bellingham and a former senior public works official for allegedly discriminating against him and his business employees due to his national origin during a construction project three years ago.
Brian James Bianchi filed a personal injury lawsuit April 28 in Whatcom County Superior Court against the City of Bellingham and Kirk Juneau, who was a former senior construction inspector with the city’s public works department. Bianchi is of Argentine descent.
Juneau resigned his position from the city March 20, 2020, in good standing, according to Janice Keller, a city of Bellingham spokesperson.
Bianchi’s lawsuit accuses the city and Juneau of violating Washington state’s anti-discrimination law, of not complying with the federal Disadvantaged Business Enterprise program, of breach of contract, of tortious interference with business relationships and of violating Bianchi’s First Amendment rights of freedom of speech and petition for redress of grievances, according to court records.
Bianchi’s civil suit alleges Juneau harassed and interfered with Bianchi’s work due to his national origin, and that when Bianchi complained, the city ignored the grievance and Juneau’s behavior escalated, ultimately leading Bianchi’s company to be fired from the project, according to court records.
The state transportation department’s DBE (Disadvantaged Business Enterprise) Program Compliance office investigated the city after Bianchi Construction’s termination from the project and found that “‘there was more than enough collaboration and documentation evidence to lead a ‘reasonable person’ to the conclusion that Bianchi was being subjected to a hostile environment,’ which was ‘created by one person,’ namely Mr. Juneau,” according to court records.
The state investigators found no direct evidence of protected-class discrimination, but didn’t reach a conclusion as to why the problem occurred, court records show.
Bianchi is seeking an award of damages that will make him whole, which is an amount to be determined and proven at trial, according to court records.
The city has not yet responded to the lawsuit.
Bianchi hired
Bianchi owned Bianchi Construction LLC, which was hired in 2018 as a subcontractor by Strider Construction Co. for a street improvement project for the city of Bellingham.
Bianchi Construction was classified as a DBE through the U.S. Department of Transportation. The DBE program attempts to address ongoing and past discrimination in federally-assisted transportation contracting markets by providing businesses owned and controlled by socially and economically disadvantaged individuals a fair opportunity to compete for federally-funded transportation contracts.
Because the street improvement project used federal funds administered by the Washington State Department of Transportation, some subcontractors were required to be DBEs, according to the lawsuit.
Juneau was the city representative on site at the street improvement project and acted as the site superintendent, the lawsuit states.
Bianchi’s lawsuit claims:
▪ Juneau allegedly refused to help and resented being asked when Bianchi’s company encountered unknown underground utilities and stumps during an excavation process early in the project.
▪ Juneau allegedly looked for opportunities to warn or cite Bianchi’s construction crew, insulted crew members and suggested they quit.
▪ Juneau allegedly insisted Bianchi’s crew wear hard hats and other safety equipment at times that he was not requiring Strider’s construction crew to do the same.
▪ Juneau allegedly ordered Bianchi’s construction crew to re-do work on multiple occasions, and once required a manufacturer’s representative to come to the site to certify new equipment, which was found to have no issues.
▪ Juneau allegedly got in a physical fight with one of Bianchi’s crew members.
▪ Bianchi Construction’s foreman quit due to alleged harassment from Juneau, who then allegedly barred the new foreman from the construction site. Juneau then allegedly stopped work on the project because Bianchi had not arranged for a “qualified person” to be at the work site.
▪ A pipe installed by Bianchi Construction was tested for coliform bacteria multiple times in mid-August 2018 and September. All samples but one that were delivered by Juneau failed the coliform test, but secondary samples taken and privately tested by Bianchi at the same time passed.
▪ Bianchi complained to the city about Juneau’s actions while on site. Juneau then allegedly told Bianchi that he had “complained about Mr. Juneau at his own risk.”
▪ Payments to Bianchi construction were delayed multiple times, causing Bianchi Construction to lose a different contract. The payments were required to be signed off by Juneau.
Bianchi fired
In mid-September 2018, Strider fired Bianchi Construction from the project due to the delays, extra work and personnel loss, court records state.
Bianchi’s lawsuit alleges that Juneau did not want a DBE company working on the street improvement project, that he held Bianchi Construction to a higher standard than non-DBE subcontractors and that he “harassed and/or sabotaged Bianchi based on Mr. Bianchi’s ancestry,” according to court records.
Bianchi said he and his construction company suffered irreparable damage to their professional reputation by losing the Strider contract, and that they were unable to make necessary payments on equipment for other projects and ultimately lost those contracts as well, the records show. Bianchi ended up closing his construction business, which still owes money to vendors, court records state.
Bianchi’s lawsuit alleges that the value of the company was at least $9.8 million, that the value of lost contracts was at least $3.7 million and that the amount of money lost from equipment investment was $338,000, the records show.
