Duane Morris Class Action Review - 2023 - Report - Page 166
penalties from violations involving at least 6,714 allegedly misclassified workers in 2022.
However, the amount of back wages recovered by the DOL’s Wage and Hour Division,
the number of employees who received back wages, as well as total number of hours
spent on investigations, all dropped in fiscal year 2022 as compared to the prior year.
Finally, the DOL made its mark globally with the Multilateral Partnership for Organizing,
Worker Empowerment and Rights initiative in allocating roughly $230 million to provide
technical assistance to workers and labor organizations worldwide over the past year.
In 2022, the DOL achieved numerous victories in its litigation enforcement cases. Four
of the six key cases analyzed in this chapter involve DOL wins (including two bench
trials), while one employer was successful in convincing the Eighth Circuit to reverse an
adverse summary judgment ruling. The final case analysis involves a sanctions order,
which serves as a cautionary tale for employers who do not comply with injunctions.
In U.S. Department Of Labor v. Independent Home Care Of Michigan, LLC, 2022 U.S.
Dist. LEXIS 88634 (E.D. Mich. May 17, 2022), the DOL filed a lawsuit against
Independent Home Care (IHC) and its owners alleging violations of the FLSA’s overtime
provisions regarding companionship service employees. The court denied the
defendants’ motion for summary judgment. Thereafter, the court conducted a bench trial
on May 9, 2022. Following the bench trial, the court entered judgment in favor of the
DOL. Id. at *3. First, the court noted that prior to 2013, employers who provided
companionship services were exempt from paying the minimum wage and a premium
rate for overtime. This changed on October 1, 2013, when the DOL promulgated the
Home Care Final Rule, which requires companionship service employers to pay their
employees minimum wage and a premium rate for overtime. Id. at *12-13. The Court
found that the defendants were required to pay back wages totaling $46.665.60 to the
affected employees. Second, the court noted that the defendants failed to sustain their
burden that they had acted in good faith since they did not take affirmative steps to
ascertain the FLSA’s requirements. Accordingly, the court awarded $46.665.60 in
liquidated damages. Id. at *17. Finally, the court enjoined the defendants from future
FLSA violations, and ordered them to pay costs, interest, and attorneys’ fees.
In U.S. Department Of Labor v. Medical Staffing Of America, LLC, No. 2022 U.S. Dist.
LEXIS 7834 (E.D. Va. Jan. 14, 2022), the DOL filed a lawsuit against Medical Staffing of
America, LLC, d/b/a Steadfast Medical Staffing and its owner alleging that the
defendants failed to pay nurses overtime and maintain pay records in accordance with
the FLSA. The court denied the parties’ cross-motions for summary judgment.
Thereafter, the court conducted a bench trial, which commenced on August 31, 2022.
Following the bench trial, the court entered judgment in favor of the DOL. Id. at *2-3.
First, the court analyzed whether the nurses were employees or independent
contractors by considering: (i) the degree of control Steadfast had over the manner in
which the nurses performed their work; (ii) the nurses’ opportunities for profit or loss
based on their managerial skill; (iii) the nurses’ investment in equipment or material, or
the employment of other workers; (iv) the degree of skill required for the nurses’ work;
(v) the permanence of the working relationship between the nurses and Steadfast; and
(vi) the degree to which the nurses’ services are integral to Steadfast’s business. Id. at
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Duane Morris Class Action Review – 2023
