January 2008
                                          
Investigation Continues by DC Sports and Entertainment Commission and Clark/Hunt/Smoot into Noose Incident at Ballpark

(Washington, DC) – As part of their on-going investigation, officials from the DC Sports and Entertainment Commission (DCSEC), Clark/Hunt/Smoot, the Joint Venture which serves as the general contractor for the District’s new major league ballpark, spent the majority of the day interviewing several employees from Truland Systems Corp, the electrical subcontractor, regarding an incident where a noose was found in a workers’ temporary break room at the new ballpark project site.  Councilmember Kwame R. Brown (At-Large) was also engaged, visiting the site today to meet with DCSEC, C/H/S, and Truland Systems officials to look into this incident. Yesterday, immediately upon learning about this incident, DCSEC and Clark/Hunt/Smoot were on-site investigating.

Truland Systems has been conducting its own internal review and is expected to submit its initial findings to the CHS/DCSEC investigatory team later this evening.  While the investigation is still on-going, two employees of Truland Systems have been terminated.  If it is found that others were involved, further terminations or disciplinary actions will occur.

“This type of behavior will not be tolerated. We are proud of our performance on this project and we will not allow the accomplishments of the many hard working men and women to be denigrated,” said Gregory A. O’Dell, DC Sports and Entertainment Commission chief executive officer.  Presently, there are over 1,000 workers at the construction site, and the project is currently exceeding the 50 percent Local, Small and Disadvantaged Business Enterprise (LSDBE) participation goal.