DC Attorney General Brian L. Schwalb announced that Azure Health Services, LLC, which operated assisted-living facilities across the District, will pay $1,510,000 to resolve allegations that it failed to pay frontline healthcare workers the wages they earned during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. Azure and its co-owners—Beth Henson and Cynthia Warren—operated six assisted-living facilities in the District for individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Before the owners sold the company, Azure had around 50 employees who served in caregiving, counseling, and support roles. The Office of the Attorney General (OAG) opened an investigation in late 2021 after receiving complaints from frontline healthcare workers that, with the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, Azure was requiring them to work 24-hour shifts for fourteen consecutive days while only paying workers for eighteen hours a day—shorting its employees six hours of overtime pay each day. OAG sued the company in December 2021 after its investigation confirmed the workers’ claims.
The District’s minimum wage law, the Minimum Wage Revision Act (MWRA), requires employers who choose to do business in the District to guarantee fair payment to all workers. The MWRA requires employers to pay employees a minimum wage that is presently $16.10/hour and overtime rates of 1.5 times their hourly wage when they work over 40 hours in any given week. As a result of OAG’s investigation and civil action, Azure will pay a total of $1,510,000, distributed as follows:
- $1,310,000 will be paid to adversely impacted workers.
- $200,000 will be paid to the District in penalties for violations of the MWRA.
A copy of the settlement agreement is available here.
