Month: February 2023

1199SEIU United Healthcare Workers East is urging the Second Circuit to uphold a lower court’s decision denying a group of former home care workers the ability to challenge a $40 million arbitration award. The union, represented by Jim Reif of Gladstein Reif & Meginniss, LLP and Laureve Blackstone of Levy Ratner PC, argued the workers were not parties to the arbitration and had no legal standing to intervene or appeal under the National Labor Relations Act.

The arbitration followed a 2019 grievance by the union alleging wage and hour violations. In 2022, arbitrator Martin F. Scheinman issued an award creating a $40 million fund to compensate more than 100,000 workers across 42 employers. A New York federal court confirmed the award in June of that year.

Thirteen former employees attempted to intervene, claiming the award affected their separate class action lawsuits, but the court rejected their request. The union maintains that the workers failed to show they were harmed or that the union breached its duty of fair representation—key requirements for challenging such an outcome. The union further argued that questions of arbitrability were properly delegated to the arbitrator under the terms of the collective bargaining agreement, and that the workers’ claims lacked standing, especially since no class had been certified in their lawsuits.

The Second Circuit is currently reviewing the case.

Read the Union’s brief.

Law360’s coverage.

Gladstein, Reif & Meginniss LLP attorney James M. Reif, together with co-counsel Laureve Blackstone of Levy Ratner PC, representing 1199SEIU United Healthcare Workers East, urged the Second Circuit to uphold a $40 million arbitration award that resolved wage and hour violations for more than 100,000 home health care workers.

In its brief, the union argued that a group of former employees lacked standing to challenge the award because they were not parties to the arbitration and did not show any injury that would allow intervention. The union emphasized that under the National Labor Relations Act, individual employees represented by a union cannot intervene absent allegations of a breach of the duty of fair representation.

The dispute stems from a 2019 grievance that led to arbitrator Martin F. Scheinman’s February 2022 award, later confirmed by a New York federal court. That ruling established a $40 million fund to cover claims against 42 employers. The district court denied a bid by 13 workers to intervene and partially vacate the award, and the workers appealed to the Second Circuit.

The union told the appeals court that the award should stand because the arbitrator correctly concluded that calculating individual wage losses was impractical and that the collective resolution was appropriate. The appeal has been consolidated with related challenges to arbitration orders involving home health care employers.

The case is 1199 SEIU United Healthcare Workers East v. PSC Community Services et al., Case Nos. 21-0631, 21-0633, and 22-1587, in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit.

Read Law360’s coverage.