Locke Lord Represents New York-Based Home Health Agency in Individual Arbitration of Proposed Class Action Suit

Locke Lord represented a New York-based home health agency in an individual arbitration of a proposed class action suit by a home health aide seeking to represent 3,000 employees. The proposed class action suit sought entitlement to 24 hours of pay per day for live-in home health aides employed by the Firm’s client instead of the 13 hours of pay per day they received in accordance with provisions in the governing collective bargaining agreement. An arbitration clause covering wage and hour disputes was included in the CBA and the court accepted the Firm’s argument that there was documentary evidence that the employee was bound by the arbitration clause because she remained “employed” by the Firm’s client at the time the arbitration clause was added to the CBA, regardless of the date she said she last worked, and that she failed to submit anything beyond her mere complaint allegation as to the date her employment ended. The Locke Lord team was led by Richard Reibstein with assistance from Chris Fontenelli (New York).
Posted March 30, 2018