Jan 28, 2022 | Overtime & Wages
Virginia-Based Staffing Agency Ordered To Pay 1,105 Aides More Than $7.2 Million In Back Wages & Damages
The U.S. Department of Labor has reported that a federal court in Virginia has entered a judgment ordering a Norfolk-based medical staffing agency, which intentionally violated federal laws and denied 1,105 certified nursing aides, licensed practical nurses and registered nurses their rightfully earned overtime wages, to pay more than $7.2 million in back wages and liquidated damages.
The judgment in United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, Norfolk Division, requires Medical Staffing of America LLC, d/b/a Steadfast Medical Staffing, to pay at least $3,619,716 in back wages and at least $3,619,716 in liquidated damages to 1,105 employees. The court ordered the Department of Labor’s Solicitor of Labor to update the back wages to the present, which will likely increase the back wages and liquidated damages amounts substantially. The action follows an investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division and litigation by the Solicitor of Labor.
The government’s investigation determined that since at least Aug. 18, 2015, the employer willfully misclassified the aides and nurses as independent contractors. By misclassifying the workers, the medical staffing agency paid them straight-time wages instead of time-and-a-half when they worked over 40 in a workweek. Steadfast Medical Staffing, a healthcare industry employment agency serving healthcare facilities nationwide by providing independent medical personnel, failed to maintain accurate records of total weekly hours worked. Both actions violated the Fair Labor Standards Act.
The court’s decision ends litigation filed in 2018 by the department after Steadfast Medical Staffing refused to pay back wages owed, and come into compliance after the investigation. For more information, please click complaint filed in 2018, complaint filed in 2019 and the court’s memorandum opinion and order.
Source: U.S. Department of Labor
EMPLOYEES WHO BELIEVE THEY HAVE BEEN MISCLASSIFIED OR OTHERWISE FINANCIALLY HARMED BY EMPLOYER WAGE AND HOUR VIOLATIONS ARE ENCOURAGED TO CONTACT KEHOE LAW FIRM, P.C. BY COMPLETING THE FORM ABOVE ON THE RIGHT OR SENDING AN E-MAIL TO [email protected] FOR A FREE, NO-OBLIGATION EVALUATION OF POTENTIAL LEGAL CLAIMS.
Jan 28, 2022 | Antitrust
Conspiracy Aimed At Suppressing Pay For Essential Workers During COVID-19 Pandemic
The U.S. Department of Justice announced that a federal grand jury in Portland, Maine, returned an indictment charging four managers of home health care agencies with participating in a conspiracy to suppress the wages and restrict the job mobility of essential workers during the COVID-19 pandemic.
According to the one-count felony indictment filed on January 27, 2022 in United States District Court for the District of Maine, four Portland residents, Faysal Kalayaf Manahe; Yaser Aali; Ammar Alkinani; and Quasim Saesah, all owners and/or managers of home health care agencies, conspired to eliminate competition for the services of Personal Support Specialist (“PSS”) workers by agreeing to fix the rates paid to these workers and by agreeing not to hire each other’s workers.
The indictment is the first in an ongoing federal antitrust investigation into wage fixing and worker allocation schemes in the PSS home health care industry.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Public Affairs
Antitrust Enforcement & Civil Lawsuits
The goal of the antitrust laws, according to the U.S. Department of Justice, is to protect economic freedom and opportunity by promoting free and fair competition in the marketplace. Competition in a free market benefits American consumers through lower prices, better quality and greater choice. Competition provides businesses the opportunity to compete on price and quality, in an open market and on a level playing field, unhampered by anticompetitive restraints.
Federal antitrust laws apply to virtually all industries and to every level of business, including manufacturing, transportation, distribution, and marketing. The antitrust laws prohibit a variety of practices that restrain trade, such as price-fixing conspiracies, corporate mergers likely to reduce the competitive vigor of particular markets, and predatory acts designed to achieve or maintain monopoly power.
There are three main ways in which the Federal antitrust laws are enforced: criminal and civil enforcement actions brought by the Antitrust Division of the Department of Justice; civil enforcement actions brought by the Federal Trade Commission; and lawsuits brought by private parties asserting damage claims.
Kehoe Law Firm, P.C. investigates and prosecutes class action antitrust matters to recover damages on behalf of businesses, distributors, wholesalers, employees, and consumers who may have been harmed by illegal monopolies; unlawful no-poach and wage-fixing agreements between employers; corporate cartels or other anticompetitive conduct or arrangements, such as price fixing, bid rigging, and agreements to allocate (“divide up”) customers to reduce or eliminate competition.
INDIVIDUALS OR BUSINESSES WHO BELIEVE THEY HAVE BEEN HARMED BY ANTICOMPETITIVE CONDUCT ARE ENCOURAGED TO COMPLETE THE FORM ABOVE ON THE RIGHT OR CONTACT JOHN KEHOE, ESQ., (215) 792-6676, EXT. 801, [email protected], [email protected], FOR A FREE, NO-OBLIGATION EVALUATION OF POTENTIAL LEGAL CLAIMS.
Jan 28, 2022 | Car Problems Car Complaints
Kia Soul (2014)
Front air bags may not deploy. Front air bags that do not deploy as intended can increase the risk of injury in a crash. For more information about this recall, which potentially affects 128,280 Kia vehicles, please click NHTSA Campaign Number: 22V096000.
Kia Optima (2013-2014)
Low pressure fuel hose may leak. A fuel leak can increase the risk of a fire. Kia Motors America (Kia) is recalling certain 2013-2014 Optima vehicles that were previously repaired under NHTSA recall number 20V-100. The low pressure fuel hose may be damaged, or missing heat-protective tape, which can result in a fuel leak. For more information about this recall, which potentially affects 72,848 Kia Optima vehicles, please click NHTSA Campaign Number 22V093000.
Kia K900 (2016-2018) / Kia Sportage (2014-2016)
Engine compartment fire. An engine compartment fire while parked or driving can increase the risk of injury. Kia Motors America (“Kia”) is recalling certain 2016-2018 K900 and 2014-2016 Sportage vehicles. The Hydraulic Electronic Control Unit (“HECU”) module could malfunction and cause an electrical short, which could result in an engine compartment fire. For more information about this recall, which potentially affects 126,747 Kia automobiles, please click NHTSA Campaign Number: 22V051000.
Kia Forte (2017-2018) / Kia Forte Koup (2017) / Kia Sedona (2017-2019) / Kia Soul (2017-2019) / Kia Soul EV (2017-2019)
Air bags may not deploy. Kia Motors America is recalling certain 2017-2019 Sedona, Soul, Soul EV, 2017-2018 Forte, and 2017 Forte Koup vehicles. The Air Bag Control Unit (“ACU”) cover may contact a memory chip on the printed circuit board and damage the electrical circuit. Circuit damage may result in deactivated air bags that will not deploy in a crash. For additional information about this safety recall, which potentially affects 410,619 vehicles, please click NHTSA Campaign Number: 22V031000.
How Do You Know If Your Vehicle Has Been Recalled?
Your vehicle MAY be involved in a safety recall which MAY create a safety risk for you or your passengers. If not repaired, a potential safety defect could lead to injury or even death. Safety defects must be repaired by a dealer at no cost to you. To find out if your vehicle is included in the recall, please use the NHTSA’s VIN Look-up Tool.
What Is A Vehicle Recall?
When a manufacturer or the NHTSA determines that a vehicle creates an unreasonable risk to safety or fails to meet minimum safety standards, the manufacturer is required to fix that vehicle at no cost to the owner. The fix, or repair, can be accomplished by repairing, replacing, offering a refund (for equipment) or, in rare cases, repurchasing the car/vehicle.
What Should I Do If My Vehicle Is Included In This Recall?
If your vehicle is included in a specific recall, it is very important that you get it fixed as soon as possible given the potential danger to you and your passengers if it is not addressed. You should receive a separate letter in the mail from the vehicle manufacturer, notifying you of the recall and explaining when the remedy will be available, whom to contact to repair your vehicle, and to remind you that the repair will be done at no charge to you. If you believe your vehicle is included in the recall, but you do not receive a letter in the mail from the vehicle manufacturer, please call NHTSA’s Vehicle Safety Hotline at 1-888-327-4236, or contact your vehicle manufacturer or dealership.
For additional information about vehicle recalls, please click Vehicle Recall FAQs.
Source: U.S. Department of Transportation, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
VEHICLE OWNERS AND LESSEES AFFECTED BY AUTOMOTIVE DEFECTS OR SAFETY RECALLS ARE ENCOURAGED TO COMPLETE THE FORM ABOVE ON THE RIGHT OR CONTACT KEHOE LAW FIRM, P.C., [email protected], FOR A FREE, NO-OBLIGATION EVALUATION OF POTENTIAL LEGAL CLAIMS.
Jan 28, 2022 | Shareholder Investigations
Kehoe Law Firm, P.C. is investigating potential securities claims on behalf of investors of GWG Holdings, Inc. (“GWG Holdings” or the “Company”) (NASDAQ: GWGH). The securities class action investigation concerns whether GWG Holdings violated federal securities laws.
On January 18, 2022, GWG Holdings disclosed that “. . . the Company believes that the filing of its Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2021, will likely be later than the March 31, 2022 due date for such filing due to the recently disclosed decision of its independent registered public accounting firm to decline to stand for reappointment, which would also likely result in a voluntary suspension of the sale of L Bonds.”
The Company also reported that “. . . the Company did not make the January 15, 2022 interest payment of approximately $10.35 million and principal payments of approximately $3.25 million with respect to its L Bonds,” and GWG Holdings “elected to voluntarily suspend its L Bonds sales effective as of January 10, 2022.”
On this news, GWG’s stock price fell $2.17 per share, or 27.7%, closing at $5.65 per share on January 18, 2022.
Then, on January 27, 2022, The Wall Street Journal reported that GWG Holdings received a subpoena in 2020 from the SEC’s division of enforcement ordering GWG Holdings to produce documents. The paper also reported that an attorney who represents multiple L Bonds investors “said that most of his clients are retail investors who bought the bonds . . . after hearing a sales pitch that the products were safe and would offer a comfortable income stream for their retirement,” but that “[t]hey were shocked to learn that their money was used to pay old investors while the company has been under SEC investigation.”
On this news, GWG’s stock fell more than 20% during intraday trading on January 27, 2022, further injuring investors.
