PHILADELPHIA — A federal judge has given final approval to a $1.6 million class-action settlement against a Pennsylvania-based home health care agency that allegedly used multiple schemes to keep from paying its workers overtime.
"The court approves the settlement terms because it concludes that the terms are fair, reasonable and adequate based on a review of the record, a fairness hearing and an application of well-established guidelines," U.S. District Court Judge Berle Schiller said in his 14-page memorandum and order issued Nov. 9.
Schiller, on the bench in Pennsylvania's Eastern District, approved plaintiffs' uncontested motion for final approval of the collective and class action settlement. Schiller also approved more than $600,000 in attorneys' fees, costs and administration expenses, in addition to class representative service fees of $6,000 each to lead plaintiffs Lawrence Harris and Tina Williams.
Harris, Williams and other home health care workers in the case alleged Sweet Home committed overtime violations under the Pennsylvania Minimum Wage Act and the federal Fair Labor Standards Act. The health care workers claimed they were misclassified as independent contractors and that Sweet Home used two business models aimed at avoiding overtime pay for its workers.
Sweet Home regularly failed to apply an overtime multiplier to employees who worked more than 40 hours and then manipulated workers' base rate downward so that an employee's paycheck would reflect the same weekly total as if they'd worked no overtime at all, the suit says.
Plaintiffs also alleged that Sweet Home arbitrarily classified some workers as employees and other, as in Williams and Harris' case, as independent contractors to avoid paying them overtime.
Sweet Home consistently denied the allegations and contested liability but agreed to the settlement in May.
Under the terms of the settlement, Sweet Home agreed to pay a maximum of $1.625 million to resolve the litigation.
In exchange, class members will release Sweet Home from claims over unpaid wages, overtime pay, interest, liquidated damages and other such penalties.