Company News

Allstate Interiors, Inc. Criticizes Fallacious Article

Monroe, NY -- November 15th, 2011

Allstate Interiors, Inc. has learned about an article containing various fallacies circulating around the internet regarding Allstate Interiors’ policy regarding their employees.

Allstate Interiors, Inc. has offices in New York, New Hampshire, Connecticut, New Jersey, and Virginia. The article, published by the Hartford Courant, written by Kenneth Gosselin, incorrectly accused Allstate Interiors of Connecticut, Inc. of hiring illegal citizens to work on the Storrs Center project near the University of Connecticut.

The article begins by claiming the state officials are, “...probing potential workplace violations by a subcontractor at the high-profile Storrs Center development near the University of Connecticut, after an inspection that that also revealed that some workers on the site might be undocumented.” Allstate Interiors of CT refutes this statement entirely. As stated by the article itself, the Department of Labor has visited the site on both October 17th, as well as November 7th, telling the general contractor of the job site that, “there were no issues.” Additionally, there was never any questions raised about social security identification of the workers on the job site. Allstate Interiors, Inc. has a large weekly payroll that is fully recorded and reported, hires everyone on the guidelines set in forth by the Federal Government, and has no record of ever hiring illegal citizens upon the knowledge that they were not citizens of the United States.

To further confusion, and lead many to believe this article was written maliciously, the author, Kenneth Gosselin, took a statement from the labor group’s press release that claimed a company by the name of Monroe Interiors (which did exist) was named inaccurately and that it is in fact Allstate Interiors of CT that should be held responsible for alleged illegal activity within their workforce. It is unclear where the labor group who published their press release gathered their information. According to a brief article referring to the labor group’s press release, “A union council is praising an Oct. 17 raid by state and federal officials of the Storrs Center building site in Mansfield that turned up 18 undocumented workers employed by Monroe, N.Y.-based Monroe Interiors Inc., according to the council. The site lacked all legal immigration and Social Security information, the Connecticut Laborers District Council said in a press release.” The Department of Labor has already refuted those accusations, stating they have never come across a Monroe Interiors at the job site, and that the check-ups were routine and that “there were no issues.” Allstate Interiors of CT is just one of many contractors working on the Storrs Center project, yet the author immediately put blame on Allstate Interiors of CT, claiming they were the company that the labor group was actually referring to in their press release.

Allstate Interiors of CT has pursued legal action and contacted the Hartford Courant’s author Kenneth Gosselin himself requesting that they print a retraction immediately on the basis of unreliable facts and sources. The Hartford Courant replied by refusing to name the majority of their sources who are responsible for many of the false facts made in the article. While they stated that they would edit any misconstrued statements, Allstate Interiors of CT already informed of them of all the errors that needed to be fixed immediately.

The article also comes across as racist, by stating, “Sources said the investigation of payroll and workers compensation practices by Allstate Interiors, a drywall subcontractor based in Monroe, N.Y., also revealed that workers who did not speak English, did not have Social Security numbers. Workers in the United States are required to register with the Social Security Administration.” Disregarding the fact that no workers were ever questioned about their social security numbers because there was no investigation, this statement implies to the reader that someone who does not speak english, and who may not have their social security cards on hand or memorized, should be assumed to be undocumented labor. In order to hire employees legally, the employer must have a social security number on file for the employee, which Allstate Interiors, Inc does. Furthermore, Allstate Interiors, Inc. has already provided their payroll to the Department of Labor, which is is required by all contractors, and no issues were raised.

Allstate Interiors, Inc believes the article is unnecessary, uncalled for, and blatantly disrespectful towards the goal of journalism to report news accurately and efficiently.

Allstate Interiors, Inc. prides themselves and their clients in their ethical values, and consistent contribution to the community, including being a three time participant for ABC’s emmy-winning program, “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition.” When illegitimate articles such as the one discussed are published, Allstate Interiors believes in social responsibility to make sure the truth is presented accurately and fairly.