A federal court in Pennsylvania has ordered an Ardmore employer who denied more than $1.4 million in wages to hundreds of home care workers in the Philadelphia area to pay its workers more than $2.8 million in back wages and liquidated damages. The consent judgment follows an investigation by the US Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division and litigation by the Solicitor of Labor. Both established that Red Lion Home Care Inc. paid straight time for all hours worked and adjusted rates of pay in overtime workweeks to avoid paying an overtime premium intentionally. Specifically, the employer paid overtime at a rate lower than the required time-and-a-half rate. Additionally, the investigation and litigation established that Red Lion Home Care failed to complete time records for all employees. The actions by the non-medical home care agency violated the minimum wage, overtime, and recordkeeping provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act. As a result of the Solicitor’s office successful litigation of the case, the court ordered Red Lion Home Care Inc., Scott Race and Stuart Race to pay $1,424,181 in back wages and an equal amount in liquidated damages to 491 home care workers. The court also ordered the employer to pay $251,637 in civil money penalties, which the Wage and Hour Division had assessed due to the willful violations.
