A suit was filed last Friday in the Western District of Virginia by the Department of Labor, as well as its secretary, against defendants Elite Home Health Care (Elite) and Henry L. Olds, Jr. The complaint alleged that the defendants violated the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 (FLSA) when they
Elite is described in the complaint as a “home healthcare business that provides in-home nursing care through direct care workers to its customers including providing companionship service and assistance with activities of daily living such as cooking, dressing, bathing, feeding and medicine reminders.” Olds is both the president and owner of Elite, the complaint says.
The complaint explains that as the president and owner of Elite, Olds was responsible for managing its daily operations, directing employment practices, supervising employees, setting pay rates and policies, hiring and firing employees, and more. The defendants employ certified nursing assistants, personal care aides, and more to staff their facility. The complaint lists 138 of these employees who were allegedly not compensated properly by the defendants for the weeks that they worked over 40 hours.
The complaint asserts that the lack of proper compensation is demonstrative of the fact that the defendants “knew or recklessly disregarded their obligations” under the FLSA. The defendants would either pay the overtime employees their standard rate for every hour of overtime worked, or they would pay the proper one-half premium rate, but not for all of the hours worked.
Further, the plaintiff explains that the defendants “failed to keep proper records of their employees’ regular rate of pay and the total premium pay for all overtime hours worked in a workweek and compensation,” as is required by law.
The complaint seeks an injunction preventing the defendants from further FLSA violations, a finding that the defendant’s are liable for the unpaid overtime compensation, back wages, liquidated damages, and other relief.
