By Matt Sepic, KWMU
St. Louis – Metro wants to hire employees from at least one of the construction oversight companies it fired on Tuesday.
The transit agency terminated contracts with four firms it hired four years ago to manage a half-billion dollar light rail extension.
Metro is also suing the companies. It's creating about 16 new positions to replace them.
Anthony Thompson heads Kwame Construction. He said the transit agency offered jobs to six of his employees."That makes me feel good that our people are talented enough and they were thought enough of that Metro felt like these guys would be a valuable part of their team as they move forward," Thompson said.
Thompson said the lawsuit will put a major strain on his company. He has about 75 employees.
Metro's Adella Jones says the agency hopes to have the new positions filled by the end of the month.