The 300 recently furloughed and unpaid employees of Birdsall Services Group, Inc., Eatontown, N.J., breathed a bit easier on April 15 as the engineering firm agreed to pay $3.6 million to settle criminal prosecution charges with the state. The action unfreezes assets of Birdsall, which still remains under indictment on corruption charges and is seeking bankruptcy protection, and allows the firm to operate and call employees back to work with pay. Birdsall, meanwhile, is in talks with a potential buyer, says a company spokesman.
The settlement does not resolve the indictment against the firm and seven of its former executives, says a spokesman at the office of New Jersey Attorney General Jeffrey Chiesa. Birdsall is still subject to potential criminal fines, penalties and restitution orders, he adds.