Thursday, August 13, 2009

Minority contract dispute, over H R Block's headquarters construction, is settled

The Kansas City Star
Posted on Wed Aug. 12, 2009 11:10 PM
By KEVIN COLLISON

A long-simmering affirmative action dispute over the construction of H&R Block’s downtown headquarters was settled Wednesday by a city development agency.
The Kansas City Tax Increment Financing Commission unanimously agreed to accept an offer by J.E. Dunn Construction Co. to spend an additional $1.1 million for minority contracting work at its own soon-to-be completed headquarters at 11th and Locust streets.
J.E. Dunn had been accused by the City Human Relations Department of inflating its minority-participation numbers during the construction of the H&R Block project, which opened in 2006.
It was up to the TIF Commission to determine whether a “good faith” effort had been made to achieve affirmative action goals.
Chairman Ron Yaffe said accepting the offer by J.E. Dunn to increase minority contracts for its own headquarters project was the “right thing to do” to resolve the dispute.

Full Story: By KEVIN COLLISON
The Kansas City Star

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