Donizetti’s Tile Services was fined for failure to pay overtime and misclassification of employees as independent contractors, among other issues.
Already a Subscriber? Log in
Get Instant Access to This Article
Subscribe to Worcester Business Journal and get immediate access to all of our subscriber-only content and much more.
- Critical Central Massachusetts business news updated daily.
- Immediate access to all subscriber-only content on our website.
- Bi-weekly print or digital editions of our award-winning publication.
- Special bonus issues like the WBJ Book of Lists.
- Exclusive ticket prize draws for our in-person events.
Click here to purchase a paywall bypass link for this article.
The Massachusetts Attorney General’s Office has fined a Woburn-based subcontractor $220,000 over labor violations at the construction site of the former The Bridge Academy and Community Center.
Donizetti’s Tile Services was fined for failure to pay overtime, failure to furnish suitable pay slips, misclassification of employees as independent contractors, failure to permit employees to earn and use sick time, and failure to keep true and accurate payroll records, according to a Tuesday email from the Office of the Attorney General.
The violations stemmed from work at 300 Southbridge St., a former textile factory that later became the site of The Bridge Academy and Community Center. The site now is being redeveloped into a 21-unit apartment building.
A total of 14 employees were impacted by the violations. The fine was issued on April 22, after the attorney general’s Fair Labor Division Construction Field Team conducted a compliance visit in July 2025.
Donizetti’s Tile Services declined to comment for this story. The company is led by Donizetti De Oliveira.
The fine was first revealed in a social media post from Attorney General Andrea Joy Campbell on May 1.
“My office was doing a routine site inspection of a Worcester construction site when we learned the workers had been misclassified as independent contractors,” Campbell wrote on Bluesky. “This meant the workers were wrongfully denied protections, overtime & leave.”
Boston-based Dalfior Development originally planned to redevelop the three-story building, but the site was purchased for $1.9 million in February 2025 by an entity managed by Renato Valentim, owner of Woburn-based Valentim Real Estate, according to City of Worcester property records. The firm lists 300 Southbridge St. as a project on its website.
Valentim is the founder of the Shrewsbury-based Tavern in The Square restaurant chain.
The firm did not return requests for comment.
The project has received $1 million in tax credits from the state’s Historic Rehabilitation Tax Credit program. The building was constructed in 1866 as a factory for the Sargent Card-Clothing Co., according to Massachusetts Historical Commission documents.
From 2020 to 2022, the property was known as The Bridge. It was used as a community center and art space by several small youth-oriented nonprofit groups. After Dalfior approached the owner, the organizations were given two weeks to raise $1 million to purchase the building, but fell short by $250,000.
Eric Casey is the managing editor at Worcester Business Journal, who primarily covers the real estate and banking & finance industries.
