Plymouth Boss Scammed Workers Out of $100K: AG

PLYMOUTH, MA — A Plymouth construction boss failed to pay dozens of workers $100,000 in wages, state Attorney General Maura Healey announced Tuesday. Joseph Kerrissey, 39, owner of J. Kerrissey LLC and Sunrise Equipment & Excavation, was indicted by a grand jury on 20 charges, ranging from larceny to unemployment fraud. Kerrissey is presumed innocent. He will be arraigned Oct. 26 in Suffolk Superior Court.

Kerrissey failed to pay 31 workers for $100,000 in wages they collectively earned since 2011, according to Healey.

"Kerrissey allegedly consistently bounced payroll checks to employees despite receiving payment for his company’s work on construction projects," Healey said in a statement. "When workers approached him with complaints of non-payment of wages, he would allegedly use various defenses and counter allegations to avoid payment.

"Those tactics included telling employees that the money should be in the account, that they did not earn the wages, that they had to work for nothing, and that he would take out criminal complaints for their purported 'theft' from him if they attempted to use the legal system to obtain their wages.

“We know that workers in the construction industry are particularly susceptible to abuse. People who work hard should be able to provide for themselves and their families and we will continue to hold accountable employers who exploit their workers.”

Healey said Kerrissey also failed to make required unemployment contributions.

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