Federal court orders Pennsylvania home care agency to pay more than $2.8M in back wages, damages to 491 workers; $250K in civil penalties for wage violations

ARDMORE, PA – A federal court in Pennsylvania has ordered an Ardmore employer who denied more than $1.4 million in wages to hundreds of home care workers in the Philadelphia area to pay its workers more than $2.8 million in back wages and liquidated damages.

Entered in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, the consent judgment follows an investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division and litigation by the Solicitor of Labor. Both established that Red Lion Home Care Inc. paid straight time for all hours worked and adjusted rates of pay in overtime workweeks to avoid paying an overtime premium intentionally. Specifically, the employer paid overtime at a rate lower than the required time-and-a-half rate.

Additionally, the investigation and litigation established that Red Lion Home Care failed to complete time records for all employees. The actions by the non-medical home care agency violated the minimum wage, overtime and recordkeeping provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act. 

As a result of the Solicitor’s office successful litigation of the case, the court ordered Red Lion Home Care Inc., Scott Race and Stuart Race to pay $1,424,181 in back wages and an equal amount in liquidated damages to 491 home care workers. The court also ordered the employer to pay $251,637 in civil money penalties, which the Wage and Hour Division had assessed due to the willful violations.

“Since the start of the pandemic, home care workers have been among the millions of workers who provide essential services while putting themselves at-risk,” said Secretary of Labor Marty Walsh. “In addition to taking advantage of hundreds of their workers, Red Lion Home Care Inc. shortchanged some of the lowest paid and most vulnerable workers in our economy.”

“This consent judgment is a strong step towards ensuring that home care workers receive all of the wages they have earned, including overtime pay,” said Solicitor of Labor Seema Nanda. “The U.S. Department of Labor is committed to taking all legal avenues to protect the rights of workers.”

The consent judgment follows an investigation by the division’s District Office and litigation by the Regional Solicitor’s Office in Philadelphia.

Based in Ardmore, Red Lion Home Care Inc. provides home care and personal assistance services to those in need of care in home settings in the Philadelphia area.

For more information about the FLSA and other laws enforced by the division, contact the agency’s toll-free helpline at 866-4US-WAGE (487-9243).  Call can be answered confidentially in more than 200 languages. Learn more about the Wage and Hour Division, including a search tool to use if you think you may be owed back wages collected by the division.