In a major win for home care workers, a New York federal judge has denied both summary judgment and a bid to decertify a 1,100-member class in a wage and hour lawsuit against Community Care Companions Inc. (CCC), following key arguments advanced by Jessica E. Harris and James Michael Reif of Gladstein, Reif & Meginniss LLP, along with Ian H. Hayes of Hayes Dolce.
The workers, including personal care assistants and home health aides, allege that CCC and its owners, Alexander J. Caro and Mark Gatien, violated the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) and New York Labor Law by issuing overtime pay late and failing to compensate for travel time and expenses incurred in traveling between client homes.
U.S. District Judge John L. Sinatra Jr. on Monday adopted U.S. Magistrate Judge Michael J. Roemer’s report and recommendation, rejecting CCC’s arguments for decertification and pretrial dismissal of the claims. The ruling allows the class action—filed in 2019—to proceed toward trial.
CCC had argued that a recent state court decision eliminated a private right of action under Section 191 of the New York Labor Law, which covers timely payment of wages. But the court found that conflicting state decisions and federal precedent supported keeping the claim alive.
On the overtime issue, CCC claimed that minor delays in overtime pay—especially when caused by late timesheet submissions—should not qualify as violations. But Judge Roemer found that many of the payment delays were not linked to timesheet problems and emphasized that the legal burden lies with the employer to ensure timely compensation.
The court also rejected CCC’s attempt to dismiss claims related to unpaid travel time between client homes, saying there is “persuasive authority” that such travel constitutes compensable work under federal law and should be decided by a jury.