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Barack Obama faces fresh trouble amid divorce rumours with wife Michelle
Former US President Barack Obama is facing additional troubles amidst reports of marital issues and a potential divorce with Michelle.
Former US President Barack Obama is facing additional troubles amidst reports of marital issues and a potential divorce with Michelle.
The fresh challenge surrounds his Obama Presidential Center. A black-owned local subcontractor has accused one of the major companies constructing the country's first black president's library of racial discrimination, Daily Mail reported.
For Obama, 2025 seems quite troublesome as he was pictured all alone during Jimmy Carter's state funeral and Donald Trump's second inauguration after she decided to skip the event, sparking rumours that the duo has or will split up.
Due to a federal lawsuit, the Obama Presidential Center, the ex-President's his long-planned library and community center in Chicago, may now experience more delays.
Obama Presidential Center: All you need to know about latest trouble
Obama's centre has been experiencing a difficult start from the beginning. His library was sued over its proposed location, mounting expenses, and building problems.
Robert McGee, proprietor of II in One, a South Side-based company, supplied rebar and concrete for the Obama centre. In a federal lawsuit filed this month, McGee sought reimbursement from Thornton Tomasetti, a firm based in New York, for construction-related costs totaling almost $40 million.
The lawsuit alleges that Thornton Tomasetti exposed his firm to “excessively rigorous and unnecessary inspection” and copious documentation, which “impacted production and resulting in millions in losses,” and that he modified the project's criteria on multiple occasions.
McGee charged them with “racial discrimination.”
He further stated in the lawswuit that he “never imagined that the Obama Foundation's structural engineer would single out a minority-owned subcontractor for unfair criticism and falsely accuse II in One of lacking sufficient qualifications and experience to perform its work, while, in the same letter, stating that the non-minority-owned contractors were sufficiently qualified.”
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Thornton Tomasetti refutes allegations as Obama Foundation speaks out
Tomasetti, who refuted the accusations, stated that the building expenses and delays were all absolutely “driven by the underperformance and inexperience' of the black-owned subcontractor.”
According to the firm, the contractors created “a multitude of problems in the field” and that it invested “hundreds of hours reviewing, analyzing, re-designing, and responding to corrective work.”
Meanwhile, Obama Foundation spokesperson Emily Bittner told the Chicago Tribune that they would have taken immediate action if it believed that any vendor was acting with a racist intent.
Thornton Tomasetti's actions do not appear to have been motivated with racism intent, Bittner said.
Obama promised to construct his five-acre compound using local laborers, contractors, and companies owned by women, minorities, LGBTQ people, and people with disabilities.
