Penalized engineering firm sues IDOT officer
A Chicago-based engineering firm that’s received millions from state agencies fought back Tuesday against suspensions imposed in the wake of a harsh audit that found accounting misdeeds.
McDonough Associates Inc. is suing Illinois Department of Transportation Chief Procurement Officer Bill Grunloh in federal court in an effort to avoid going out of business.
Grunloh “maligned us and he vastly distorted our record,” Senior Vice President Daniel K. Curley said in a statement, adding that the procurement officer “is choking us.”
IDOT officials had no comment on the case. The agency suspended McDonough for three years this month and the Illinois tollway, CTA and city of Chicago have followed suit.
Grunloh found McDonough “through its acts, omissions/and or misconduct ... has demonstrated it lacks the responsible business integrity and or honesty to contract with (IDOT).”
The IDOT audit stated that McDonough “disguised” dividends as bonuses, that it made “false or improper” records when reporting its overhead costs, and had unprofessional accounting practices. The improper billings totaled about $46 million, auditors said.
But McDonough executives defended their record, saying Grunloh had ignored findings by other IDOT officials that found only minimal discrepancies in their billings to the agency.
Former IDOT engineer Feroz Nathani is the firm’s president and Brian McPartlin, former tollway CEO, is a McDonough vice president.