A subcontractor in Chicago is suing one of the firms involved in the construction of the Obama Presidential Center in Chicago, representing the latest blow to Barack Obama, the former US President who recently had to bat away divorce rumors about his wife, Michelle Obama, while also experiencing difficulties with his production company.
Robert McGee, the owner of II in One, is suing Thornton Tomasetti, a New York-based firm, for $40M in federal court after claiming that their racial discrimination practices forced the company into additional work that has left them on the cusp of bankruptcy. Starting in 2021, II in One provided concrete and rebar services for the project, while Thornton Tomasetti is in charge of structural engineering and design services.
McGee claims that they were subjected to “excessively rigorous and unnecessary inspection.” that weren’t consistent with the the American Concrete Institute standards. This entailed extra paperwork, which slowed down their work and has caused them to lose millions of dollars.
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Thornton Tomasetti, however, claimed that McGee’s firm are “questionably qualified” to undertake the job and that any issues with the job are II in One’s responsibility.
The Obama Presidential Center is due to open in 2026 (Image: Getty Images)
The Obama Presidential Center – which is due to house the nonprofit Obama Foundation and is expected to open in 2026 – is being constructed close to Jackson Park in Chicago and will contain community amenities such as a museum and a library. The foundation also operates a scholarship with the University of Chicago’s Harris School of Public Policy, reports The New York Post.
McGree claimed in the lawsuit that: “In a shocking and disheartening turn of events, the African American owner of a local construction company finds himself and his company on the brink of forced closure because of racial discrimination by the structural engineer.
“II in One and its joint venture partners… was subjected to baseless criticisms and defamatory and discriminatory accusations by the Obama Foundation’s structural engineer, Thornton Tomasetti.”
However, the New York-based company countered by insisting that all issues with the project “were all unequivocally driven by the underperformance and inexperience,” continuing that the contractors caused “a multitude of problems in the field.”
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A Thorton Tomasetti memo continued: “We cannot stand by while contractors attempt to blame their own shortcomings on the design team.”
The architectural experts say they “bent over backwards to assist what everyone knows was a questionably qualified subcontractor team in areas where more qualified subcontractor would not have required it.”
The project has encountered setbacks in the past. Construction was originally scheduled to start in 2018, but it was delayed until 2021.
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