May 13, 2022
A group of home care workers suing a Medicaid-funded corporation over allegedly unpaid overtime won class certification after a Pennsylvania federal judge rejected the company’s argument that no evidence could point to it being the aides’ employer.
U.S. District Judge Jeffrey L. Schmehl disagreed with Public Partnerships LLC’s argument that there was no common evidence proving that each caregiver was its employee, pointing out that the company used a standard application for all its workers, set work rules, and maintained employee timesheets and other employee records like tax filings and payroll checks.
“All these materials, policies and practices apply uniformly to all proposed class members and are common evidence of the claim that PPL is a joint employer,” Judge Schmehl said Wednesday, referring to the caregivers as “direct care workers” or DCWs. “PPL has presented no evidence that it does not treat all DCWs uniformly.”
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Talarico and the class members are represented by Christine E. Webber of Cohen Milstein Sellers & Toll PLLC, Richard Katz of Arnold Beyer & Katz and Rachhana T. Srey and Caroline Bressman of Nichols Kaster PLLP.