‘BRINK OF FORCED CLOSURE’

Obama’s Presidential Library Stalled by New Discrimination Lawsuit

A lawsuit, alleging a “shocking and disheartening turn of events,” is putting the project in jeopardy.

The Barack Obama Presidential Center, a library and museum being built by the former president in Chicago, has been hit with another delay as a subcontractor alleges that one of the project’s engineering firms, Thornton Tomasetti, is guilty of racial discrimination. According to the Daily Mail, news of the alleged discrimination came to light in a federal lawsuit on behalf of plaintiff Robert McGee, the African-American owner of II in One, a subcontractor on the project. “In a shocking and disheartening turn of events, the African-American owner of a local construction company finds himself and his company on the brink of forced closure because of racial discrimination by the structural engineer of record (Thornton Tomasetti) for the construction of The Obama Presidential Center,” lawsuit alleges. McGee is seeking $40 million and claims his company dealt with lengthy paperwork and “excessively rigorous and unnecessary inspection” from Thornton Tomasetti. The firm denies the allegations and places blame on II in One for alleged lack of experience. In a statement to the Chicago Tribune, the Obama Foundation backed Thornton Tomasetti and said it “would immediately take appropriate action” if there was “racist intent.”