In settlement, J.E. Dunn agrees to subcontract with more women, minorities

​J.E. Dunn Construction Co. will boost the participation of minority- and woman-owned businesses at its headquarters by $1.1 million in a settlement announced this morning at a meeting of the Kansas City Tax-Increment Financing Commission.

Dunn was accused of using front companies to meet diversity goals during the construction of H&R Block’s world headquarters. An investigation by the city’s Human Relations Division determined that an electrical contractor Dunn hired did not perform a “commercially useful function” on the project.

Dunn and H&R Block, the entity ultimately responsible for compliance, avoided a painful outcome. The TIF Commission could have ordered a multimillion-dollar fine had it ruled that a good-faith effort was not made to include women and minorities on the project.

The Block building opened in 2006. Dunn’s own headquarters is nearly finished.

A copy of the settlement is not yet available.