Hospice Operating Company Denies Care Takers Proper Wages, Suit Says

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A terminated employee of International Health Care Consultants, Inc. has filed suit against the company and an individual with control of the business. She alleges the defendants, which operate hospice facilities in Maryland, failed to pay her proper wages and fired her in retaliation for complaining about her pay.

According to the suit, the plaintiff worked for the defendants as a home health aide who was responsible for living in her assigned facility during and between her weekly 12-hour shifts. She says she was paid $80 per shift, which amounts to below minimum wage, and worked between four and seven shifts per week. Between shifts, Care Takers such as the plaintiff were required to remain in the facility without being compensated and were threatened with termination if they requested to stay at home, according to the complaint. The plaintiff further alleges the defendants deducted expenses for board and lodging from employees’ wages without their authorization.

The plaintiff claims she complained to her supervisor about the defendants’ alleged wage violations, but was told “there was nothing he could do about it.” Then, on February 26, 2016, the plaintiff was terminated in retaliation for voicing her concerns about her pay, the suit says. She believes the defendants have deleted any record of her employment.