(PITTSBURGH, PENNSYLVANIA) – In one of the Nation’s largest wage recovery judgments, a Pennsylvania Federal Court has awarded $35.8 million in overtime back wages and liquidated damages to 6,000 current and former Workers employed by the operators of 15 Residential Skilled Nursing, Rehabilitation and Assisted Living Facilities in Western Pennsylvania that willfully denied them overtime pay.

After a 13-day bench trial, the July 22nd (2024) judgment in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania is the U.S. Department of Labor’s (USDOL) latest step to recoup wages and damages, jointly and severally, from the 15 nursing facilities, their owner and CEO Samuel Halper and the CHMS Group, the payroll office that the defendants used to oversee and implement their illegal compensation practices.

The action follows an investigation by the USDOL’s Wage and Hour Division in Pittsburgh and litigation by its Office of the Solicitor in Philadelphia.

“Far too often, our investigations find Workers who provide essential care services to those who need them most are not receiving their hard-earned wages from employers,” Wage and Hour Administrator Jessica Looman said. “The Wage and Hour Division is committed to protecting Workers’ rights to be paid fully and fairly and holding employers who violate these rights accountable.”

Specifically, USDOL Investigators discovered the employers violated the Fair Labor Standards Act for years, across their enterprise, by doing the following: Willfully failing to pay Employees for all hours worked, including work done during meal breaks; Failing to incorporate all promised compensation, including non-discretionary bonuses and shift differentials, when calculating overtime pay; Avoiding paying overtime by incorrectly treating Employees as exempt from the Act’s overtime requirements; and Not keeping accurate records of hours Employees worked and compensation due for those hours.

After the employers refused to resolve their violations administratively, the USDOL filed suit in 2018 in Federal Court.

In addition to being jointly and severally liable for the back wages and damages - Halper, CHMS Group and the 15 facilities are all permanently forbidden from further FLSA violations.

The employers and their owners operate Residential Skilled Nursing, Rehabilitation and Assisted Living Facilities throughout Western Pennsylvania.

To Read This Labor News Report In Its Entirety, Go To: Federal court awards $35.8M in back wages, damages in historic recovery after investigation finds wage theft by Pennsylvania healthcare employers | U.S. Department of Labor (dol.gov)