Boulder County incident prompts Lumen pledge to remove vendor after deputies confirm suspected intoxication
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Summary
A Boulder County data-center visit by multiple subcontractors escalated after staff smelled alcohol; deputies confirmed suspected consumption, the county allowed naming the company as Wire Brothers, and Lumen says the vendor is on a do-not-assign list while investigations continue.
Meeting chair Steve reported a mid-November safety incident at a Boulder County data center in which a vendor crew member was suspected of alcohol consumption while on-site and deputies confirmed the suspicion during an investigation.
Steve said the vendor had been performing work to continue a diverse circuit into the county building; after a site employee reported smelling alcohol on an individual, deputies investigated and confirmed suspected alcohol consumption for two people connected to the visit. Steve said the deputies asked the company and its staff to leave the property. "It was a vendor that was 4 or 5 deep from CenturyLink, and the name of the company was Wire Brothers," he said after receiving permission from the sheriff to share the vendor name.
Tracy of Lumen/CenturyLink described the company’s internal response: the incident was routed into Lumen’s integrity hotline and a vendor-escalations process, and Lumen’s vendor team reported that the vendor in question will not be assigned work for Lumen going forward. She said the matter remains under investigation and Lumen typically keeps such cases open for 30–45 days while they gather details. Tracy also said Lumen is reinforcing on-site notification and escort procedures and is available to coordinate with PSAPs if an unexpected vendor crew appears on-site.
Steve urged agencies to confirm that visiting crews are cleared and escorted and to notify Tracy if an unplanned crew appears at a site. "We need to know who's on our site and doing the work," he said, noting the incident prompted adjustments to how Lumen and customers communicate about vendor visits.
Next steps: Lumen’s vendor-escalations team continues the investigation and Tracy asked agencies to contact her with ticket or incident information if they want follow-up added to the tracking system. The meeting record includes the sheriff’s permission to name the vendor; Steve said the county cleared public disclosure based on the law enforcement involvement.
