Washington Twp. engineering company sues state, claims rights violation

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By Tom Beyerlein , Staff Writer Updated 4:53 PM Wednesday, January 11, 2012

TesTech Inc., the Washington Twp. civil engineering company accused of abusing a program for disadvantaged businesses, on Wednesday filed a lawsuit against the Ohio Department of Transportation, claiming ODOT violated TesTech’s rights to due process when it notified the company it was being kicked out of the program.

TesTech wants ODOT to withdraw its Dec. 16 letter advising the company that it is decertified from the Disadvantaged Business Enterprise program, which gives certain women- and minority-owned small businesses a leg up in obtaining lucrative federally funded transportation contracts. The company asked the court to restrain ODOT from seeking to decertify TesTech while the case is pending.

The company contends ODOT failed to give TesTech a required hearing before issuing the decertification letter.

ODOT spokesman Steve Faulkner said TesTech has until Tuesday to appeal the decertification, and a hearing with a third party hearing officer will be scheduled if TesTech appeals. “If they fail to do so, they will be out of the DBE program,” Faulkner said.

Many of the reasons for ODOT’s decertification sprang from an October investigation by the Dayton Daily News showing that wealthy developer David Oakes and his wife, luxury home builder Shery Oakes, signed official documents with government agencies saying they – not purported owner and president Sherif Aziz – owned and controlled TesTech. ODOT said that’s a violation of federal regulations governing the program.

The FBI and federal transportation agents last summer raided TesTech’s offices in the Galleria building in Washington Twp. to execute a sealed search warrant. Months before the raid, the feds told the state to decertify the company.

Contact this reporter at (937) 225-2264 or tbeyerlein@DaytonDailyNews.com.

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