The lawsuit surrounding The Obama Presidential Center is now in full swing. Both the defendant and plaintiff in the case are strongly fighting to clear their name off the allegations. Thornton Tomasetti, a New York-based engineering firm recently alleged the minority-owned subcontractors of running a smear campaign in the form of a lawsuit.
The Obama Presidential Center will be a library, museum, and education project built in honor of the former President. The construction for the project started back in 2021, initially, the Center was supposed to open its doors to the public in 2026.
The center will feature community and conference facilities that will be open to the public. The Center is located in Chicago and is estimated to cost around $830 million. The building is going to be sprawled across 19.3 acres of land.
Barack Obama and his wife, Michelle’s supporters have contributed majorly to the funding of the project. Jeff Bezos and Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky were two big names who donated money to the projects. They reportedly donated $100 million each to the project.
The first hitch in the project’s construction was when the funding for the project suddenly dipped by 50% in 2023. The Daily Beast acquired files of the project that indicated that most of Obama’s supporters withdrew their funding from the project.
A report claimed the reason behind the supporters’ decision was Barack Obama’s arrogant behaviour. Another reason for the dropping funding could be the legal woes surrounding the Presidential Center.
Complications arose when Thornton Tomasetti, the engineering firm leading the project was sued by a Black-owned subcontractor. The plaintiff claimed that the New York-based firm discriminated against them under the pretense of criticizing their work.
A lawsuit filed by Robert McGee, owner of the Black-owned company II in One, accuses engineering firm Thornton Tomasetti of racial discrimination and financial harm in the construction of the Obama Presidential Library. https://t.co/jFg5GH8aWC pic.twitter.com/mRPFLV5BsA
— Black Enterprise (@blackenterprise) February 4, 2025
The firm, on the other hand, has denied all claims made by Robert McGee the owner of II In One Concrete’s owner. The issue started when Thornton Tomasetti wrote to the Obama Foundation about multiple problems they had identified in the construction that had been carried out.
In a memo to the non-profit organization, the firm claimed that they had noticed cracked concrete and exposed rebar in the work done by the subcontractors. They labelled the subcontractors as “questionably qualified” for the work they had carried out so far.
Matters escalated when II In One Concrete filed a $40.75 million lawsuit against Thornton Tomasetti based on racial bias. Soon after, the New York-based engineering firm filed a motion to dismiss the lawsuit. They wrote the lawsuit off as a smear campaign while adding that the claims were made “without a shred of factual support.”
II In One Concrete were hired to be a subcontractor under the DEI goals that the Obama Foundation before commencing the project. Three firms were hired for the project to lead a minority-led joint-venture team.
A $40M racial discrimination lawsuit has been filed against Thornton Tomasetti, the structural engineers for the Obama Presidential Center in Chicago. A Black-owned subcontractor, II in One Concrete, claims excessive scrutiny caused financial strain.https://t.co/SIHMTzrflX
— Archinect (@archinect) February 5, 2025
Thornton Tomasetti referred to the DEI goal while noting that the subcontractors are not “immune from having their work scrutinized” just because they are minority-owned. “Professional criticism, without more, is not racism,” the engineering firm stated.
While II In One Concrete’s Robert McGee maintains his original stance on the situation. The owner of the firm claims that his work was discriminated against “on the basis of race.” He also accused the defendant of subjecting him to “unjustified and discriminatory conduct.”
