A federal court has ordered a Brewster home care provider to stop retaliating against employees in an effort to obstruct a US Department of Labor investigation into the employers’ pay practices. On March 1, 2023, the department obtained a temporary restraining order in the US District Court for the Southern District of New York against Sunrise Home Care Inc. and owner Elsa Silva. The action comes after the department’s Wage and Hour Division began an investigation in January 2023 to evaluate the employers’ compliance with the Fair Labor Standards Act. In seeking the court order, the department alleged — that since the investigation began — Silva has harassed and intimidated employees repeatedly by asking them about their communications with investigators and instructing them to provide false information to the department. Investigators also learned the owner told employees she would have to close the business and they would lose their jobs if the division’s investigation determined she had to pay overtime premiums. They also learned that the owner pressured employees to agree to return to the employers any monies owed to employees as a result of the investigation.
