S.F. Pays Contractor It Fired From Embattled Public Works Project $660,000

A construction company that San Francisco city officials kicked off of a major public works project in the city's Haight neighborhood is about to get paid.

Synergy Project Management was blamed for a series of gas leaks in 2015. The breaches significantly delayed the $13.7 million infrastructure project involving sewage line replacement, street repaving and water main installations.

Scrutiny placed on Synergy led to questions about the company's safety practices after it was revealed that its workers dangled a foreman head first into a manhole.

After the city's public works department tried to fire the company Synergy appealed, but an administrative hearing officer rejected the appeal.

The construction company will now get $660,000 from the agency that oversees Muni in a separate conflict with the city.

It's the result of a settlement after a years-long legal battle between the subcontractor and the city over work Synergy did on the Central Subway project.

The San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency (SFMTA) awarded Synergy a contract to move underground utilities as part of the subway job.

But Synergy claimed it was owed $3.8 million from the project, leading to a dispute that went to mediation and ultimately a settlement. The SFMTA's board of directors voted Tuesday behind closed doors to approve the deal.

"We won another case against the city," Synergy President Javad Mirsaidi said in an email.

Mirsaidi says his company's work on the project involved "many change orders and interruptions," leading to the higher costs. In the past he has said that his company was scapegoated in the Haight Street project for PG&E.

SFMTA spokesman Paul Rose says the conflict is common among city work.

"Construction contracts sometimes lead to a dispute for work done and money owed," Rose said in an email.