The U.S. Department of Labor won a summary judgment in federal court to force a Chesapeake, Va., home healthcare business and its owners to pay 194 employees more than $1.5 million in back pay and liquidated damages.
The judgment by the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia in Norfolk required Kynd Hearts Home Health Care LLC and its owners, Shawndell D. Harris and Alvonda Evans, to pay $759,698 in back wages and an equal amount in liquidated damages for willful violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act, according to a Jan. 10 news release.
“The Wage and Hour Division investigated Kynd Hearts Home Health Care and its co-owners in 2014 and found overtime violations," Principal Deputy Wage and Hour Administrator Jessica Looman said in the release. "The employers knew their obligations to pay proper overtime rates and yet, they willfully disregarded the law and denied workers all of their hard-earned wages.”
Solicitor of Labor Seem Nanda said the Labor Department holds employers accountable who repeatedly and willfully fail to comply with the Fair Labor Standards Act, according to the release.
“Other home healthcare industry employers should take note and ensure that they are paying their employees in compliance with the law,” a Nanda said, according to the release.
