Wage Theft Lawsuit Filed Against Employers of 24-Hour Homecare Workers
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: October 1, 2024
Contacts:
- Patrick Fowler, Communications Strategist, NCLEJ | fowler@nclej.org
New York, NY – The National Center for Law and Economic Justice and Getman, Sweeney & Dunn, PLLC have filed a lawsuit against GreatCare Inc. (a homecare agency), CenterLight Health System, Inc., and one or more managed long-term care plans (MLTCs) under contract with the New York State Department of Health (NYSDOH) for unlawfully underpaying homecare workers for only 13 hours of their 24-hour shifts in violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act, the New York Labor Law, and the New York Home Care Worker Wage Parity Act.
Because the identity of the one or more MLTCs under contract with NYSDOH is currently unknown, they are referred to as “Doe MLTCs” in legal documents. CenterLight, Inc. and Doe MLTCs provide in-home personal care services to Medicaid recipients by contracting for the services of homecare workers through GreatCare, Inc. CenterLight and the Doe MLTCs were joint employers with GreatCare and made key decisions that determined the terms and conditions of homecare worker employment, including:
- Whether homecare workers would be paid for 13 hours or more for each 24-hour shift worked;
- Whether homecare workers would work a single 24-hour shift or shifts of shorter duration;
- Whether homecare workers would be eligible for overtime pay;
- Whether home care workers would have adequate sleeping accommodations at the home of their care recipients;
- And the scope, amount, and frequency of care provided by homecare workers.
The lawsuit charges that the exploitative conditions set by CenterLight and the Doe MLTCs and executed by GreatCare resulted in substantial wage theft of 24-hour homecare workers, the majority of whom are Chinese immigrants who have limited proficiency in English. By law, employers are required to pay their employees for all 24 hours of their shifts when they are working during those hours. These employers failed to pay their workers minimum wage for all hours worked, overtime wages for hours worked beyond 40 hours per week, and spread of hours pay for hours worked beyond 10 hours a day. They also failed to provide notices of pay rates and pay statements in violation of laws.
“These MLTCs, just as much as GreatCare, are the employers of the 24-hour homecare workers we represent. MLTCs are equally accountable for stealing these workers’ wages, though they have been able to evade scrutiny and responsibility for far too long. We believe that when MLTCs are found jointly liable, a huge engine that drives wage theft against homecare workers can be eliminated,” said Carmela Huang, Senior Attorney at the National Center for Law and Economic Justice. “These workers were paid less than minimum wage, were deprived of overtime, and took home weekly earnings that were less than half of what they were owed. They experienced an unconscionable level of wage theft and working conditions that in some cases have resulted in permanent disability. They deserve payment for every hour of unpaid work.”
“Homecare workers are the backbone of the care network that so many of us must rely on to take care of our sick or elderly family members when we cannot,” said Karen Kithan Yau, partner at Getman, Sweeney, & Dunn, attorney for plaintiffs. “And these MLTCs, along with the agencies, manipulate the system and pay the homecare workers for only 13 hours but expect them to work through their meal and sleep breaks during 24-hour shifts. That is not only unlawful; it is unjust.”
ADDITIONAL BACKGROUND:
This lawsuit is the latest action in a multi-year struggle to secure restitution for home care workers who experience wage theft. New York policy allows these workers to be paid for just 13 hours of each shift, mandating an unpaid eight-hour period for sleep and three hours for meals. However, many aides have long said this practice was impossible, given their patients’ round-the-clock needs. In addition to missing out on sleep and adequate pay, these conditions also make home care workers extremely vulnerable to occupational injuries that often lead to permanent disability.
In October 2022, NCLEJ and partners filed a Title VI Federal Civil Rights Complaint against NYSDOL and the New York State Department of Health (NYSDOH) for discrimination against home care workers and consumers on the basis of their race and national origin.
In August 2023, NCLEJ filed and partners filed an Article 78 Petition to reopen a years-long New York State Department of Labor (NYSDOL) investigation into the stolen wages of 24-hour home care aides. Despite finding “overwhelmingly corroborative” evidence that home care aides assigned to work 24-hour shifts are systematically subject to wage theft by being forced to work continuously while being paid less than the minimum wage and receiving little to no overtime pay, the NYSDOL suddenly closed hundreds of unpaid wage claims filed by home care aides. Although no explanation was provided to the aides before their cases were closed, the NYSDOL afterwards justified the closures by pointing to a new “rule” that it would not investigate claims filed by home care aides who are subject to arbitration agreements. The lawsuit alleges that NYSDOL violated the New York State Administrative Procedures Act by instituting the union arbitration rule without following proper procedure. NCLEJ’s lawsuit seeks to annul the union arbitration rule and reopen the investigation into all unpaid wage claims.
Getman Sweeney & Dunn (GSD) has helped thousands of home health aides recover their back wages. Most recently, GSD settled a case against Avondale Care Group, LLC (Severino v. Avondale Care Group, LLC, 1:21 Civ. 10720 (S.D.N.Y.)) for over $5 million in back wages for over 700 home health aides. GSD is currently litigating a case against UltimateCare, Inc. (Cruz v. Ultimate Care, Inc., 22 Civ. 07520 (E.D.N.Y.)) for claims similar to this case. Conditional certification was granted in March 2024, allowing notice of their right to join the case to be sent to all eligible current and former workers. Most recently, the court expanded the class to include personal care aides.
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The National Center for Law and Economic Justice is a nonprofit that advances racial and economic justice for low-income families, individuals, and communities across the country through ground-breaking impact litigation, policy advocacy, and support for grassroots organizing. Founded in 1965, NCLEJ fights to protect access to critical benefits like food stamps, Medicaid, and childcare, protects low-wage workers’ rights and safety, advocates for the rights of people with disabilities, and fights unlawful debt collection.
Getman, Sweeney & Dunn represents employees and independent contractors working throughout the U.S. Fearless and meticulous, GSD regularly sues multinational and Fortune 500 companies, recovering more than a hundred million dollars in pay wrongfully taken from employees. You can read more here: https://getmansweeney.com/
