Braving the bitter cold, District of Columbia homecare workers gathered in front of DC Superior Court on December 11 to file the first in a series of lawsuits against three of the city’s largest Medicaid providers, alleging widespread failure to obey the law and pay required wages over a period of three years. DC home care workers will seek class action certification on behalf of their coworkers in the coming weeks.This suit is the first in a series of suits that will be filed against the DC homecare agencies. In total, the damages for all of the lawsuits could result in more than $150 million in pay to the workers. The lawsuit alleges that workers at the three agencies, Health Management, Inc., Nursing Enterprises, Inc. and Vizion One, Inc., were not paid for work, not paid legally owed living wages and overtime pay and not provided paid sick days for a period of as long as three years. These agencies were already embroiled in a Medicaid fraud investigation, which uncovered $78 million in fraud, resulting in the suspension of 13 agencies.“I’m proud of the work I do to help my clients live at home, but I can’t afford to work for free,” said Michael Thompson, a former employee of Nursing Enterprises and a plaintiff in the lawsuit. “During the Medicaid fraud investigation I lost my apartment. Many of my colleagues were even left homeless, but we still went to work. These companies are taking advantage of workers, taxpayers and our clients, and we all deserve better.”Greg McGillivary, an attorney with Woodley & McGillivary LLP, which is representing DC homecare workers in these lawsuits, said that these lawsuits will help the home care workers recover the money that is owed to them.” “For years, the home care agencies flagrantly violated the District of Columbia’s basic wage and hour protections for workers,” McGillivary said.Woodley & McGillivary was hired to represent the workers by 1199SEIU United Healthcare Workers East, which represents more than 400,000 members, with nearly 10,000 members in Maryland and the District of Columbia, including some DC homecare workers.The type pf wage theft experienced by DC homecare workers was described in a recently published Department of Labor report as more prevalent than previously suspected and health service employees are identified as some of the most vulnerable. The move to pursue a class action lawsuit is the leading edge of a new strategy to reclaim back pay for workers whose employers have not complied with the law and governments that are provided adequate enforcement.Ari Weisbard, deputy director of DC’s Economic Justice Center, told the crowd at the courthouse that when these companies did not obey the law and did not pay their employees properly, they forced employees into being late on rent, car payments and mortgages and created the need for a lawsuit to hold them accountable.“The people standing up here with me today have dedicated their lives to taking care of our elderly parents, our siblings, our uncles and aunts with disabilities live at home and with dignity. But they can’t even take care of their own needs. No one should have to choose between paying their electrical bill and buying shoes for their child. These workers should not have to work for free. These workers deserve better and so do their clients.”- See more at: http://www.1199seiu.org/dc_homecare_workers_file_a_lawsuit_against_three_of_the_city_s_largest_medicaid_providers#sthash.o4xxmYqt.dpuf