A home health care agency will pay $450,000 to settle claims that it unlawfully threatened to deport individuals who sought back pay from the company, and failed to comply with a state rule on those workers' earnings that was recently upheld by the state's highest court. 

New York Attorney General Letitia James said Friday that the settlement, which her office led, should spur action from the state Legislature on working conditions for home health care aides.

"I can truly say that they work tirelessly and thanklessly to care for our ailing and aging loved ones," James said. "They absolutely deserve every dollar, and every cent they earn."

The total settlement will be paid out to more than 100 individuals, according to James.

Her office came to the agreement with Allcare Home Care Agency, which is based in Brooklyn, after several workers made complaints to the state about unpaid wages, violations of the state's labor law, and retaliation from the company.

Allcare fired about a dozen of its workers after an audit from the company claimed they were living in the country without legal status. Those workers, James said, contacted the company to obtain wages they said were owed to them. 

Allcare, according to James, instead threatened to contact federal immigration officials and reveal the immigration status of those workers, who then reported that warning to the state. She likened the behavior to a more widespread theme regarding immigrants in the country.

"This anti-immigrant fervor is at an all-time high across this nation," James said. "It seems like, with daily frequency, immigrant communities are being targeted."

Each of those workers will receive approximately $8,000 for emotional distress on top of however much they're awarded by the company for wage violations. Each worker will receive a different award amount based on hours worked and other factors, James said. 

Allcare was also accused by the Attorney General's Office of failing to pay home health care aides for each hour of their 24-hour shift, which was recently addressed by the New York Court of Appeals, the state's highest court.

When working that long of a shift, employers of home health care aides in New York only have to pay them for 13 hours of work—as long as certain conditions are met. They have to get in at least five hours of uninterrupted sleep and be able to take three hours of meal breaks over the course of that day. 

If home health care aides aren't able to sleep, or take those meal breaks, employers are required to pay them for each hour of the entire 24-hour shift.

James said an investigation by her office found that Allcare was not complying with that rule, which is an interpretation of a decades-old wage order from the state Department of Labor.

The Court of Appeals recently upheld that interpretation while simultaneously rejecting a challenge from home health care aides that would have required employers to pay them for each hour of a 24-hour shift, regardless of sleep or meal breaks.

Attorneys for those workers had argued before the high court that, since home health care aides are required to be at a patient's home for their entire 24-hour shift, they should be paid for each hour there. The high court said that was a decision for the state, not the court. 

Instead, the court upheld the state's interpretation of the wage order. But Associate Judge Jenny Rivera, writing for the majority, said at the time that the plight of home health care aides shouldn't be ignored.

"While we ultimately conclude that the Appellate Division failed to afford adequate deference to DOL's interpretation of the Wage Order, we do not ignore plaintiffs' and amici's claims that a vulnerable population of workers is being mistreated," Rivera wrote. "Plaintiffs' allegations are disturbing and paint a picture of rampant and unchecked years-long exploitation."

Allcare, according to the Attorney General's Office, has agreed to work with the state to develop policies that fully comply with the result of that decision, and the wage order it was based on.

James urged members of the state Legislature during the press conference Friday to address the rule during next year's legislative session. 

She said lawmakers in Albany could move to create stronger enforcement tools for the state to use against employers who violate the rule, and cap shifts for home health care workers at 12 hours.

"Hopefully this legislative session, the Legislature will take up this 24-hour rule," James said.

Legislation was introduced earlier this month to do just that. A bill from Assemblyman Harvey Epstein, D-Manhattan, and state Sen. Roxanne Persaud, D-Brooklyn, would reduce shifts for home health care aides to 12 hours, unless they volunteer to work more. 

Workers would have a private right of action through the proposed law, which means they would be able to sue their employer independently from the state. The state Department of Labor would also be authorized by the legislation to bring litigation and issue sanctions.

The issue, so far, has received little attention by lawmakers in Albany. But Democrats, who control both houses of the Legislature, may move to enact the law when next year's legislative session begins in January.

They already approved a bill, this year, that created stronger penalties for employers who retaliate against workers by threatening to expose them to federal immigration authorities. That law, which was signed in July, isn't slated to take effect until late October.

Allcare was represented in the settlement, according to documents, by Emina Poricanin, who leads the home care practice at Hodgson Russ in Buffalo. She said Allcare appreciated everyone's efforts to resolve the case and move forward.

"It will probably come as no surprise that we disagree with the underlying allegations, but the case was closed on very good terms for everyone involved," Poricanin said. "We were happy we were able to reach a resolution that was acceptable to everyone."

Industry leaders in home health care decried the behavior alleged from the state against Allcare in a statement Friday afternoon. Al Cardillo, president of the Home Care Association of New York State, said they support any action by law enforcement to address violations.

"There is no place in New York's home care system – or in the broader health care system – for any organization to deliberately engage in unlawful practices described in the AG's press release, or to exploit an individual's immigration status as has been charged," Cardillo said.

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