“We are in the realm of justice, and I am very honored and privileged to have delivered justice to these vulnerable workers,” New York State Attorney General Letitia James said on Friday afternoon. a settlement of $ 450,000 for more than 100 home health aides employed by Allcare Home Care Agency in Brooklyn.
More than a dozen helpers had complained of salary theft and threats that they would be reported to ICE, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, if they complained. Many workers are undocumented.
Speaking through an interpreter, Justa Barrios, wearing sunglasses, said she had worked for Allcare for 18 years and deserved better treatment.
“We are human beings. We have families. And we have people we take care of who have serious health problems,” Barrios said through an interpreter.
Another worker, Sileni Martinez, called the working conditions “abusive”.
“For my part, I was employed for 25 years and was only paid 13 hours for 24-hour shifts,” Martinez said, also through an interpreter.
The investigation began after two advocacy groups, TakeRoot Justice and National Mobilization Against SweatShops, or NMASS, contacted the attorney general’s office.
James said his investigators found the company did not pay overtime or offer paid time off, as required by law. She said the investigation also found that Allcare threatened workers who complained with eviction, in violation of a new state law.
“The law creates much needed penalties for employers who retaliate against employees by threatening them to contact immigration authorities,” James said.
The plight of the workers began a few years ago when the company carried out a private internal audit of the employment status of its employees. That’s when the threats to call ICE started. And although the attorney general says company officials never followed through on these threats, that was enough to qualify as retaliation.
A spokesperson for Allcare told NY1, “While we do not agree with the underlying issues raised in the complaint, we believe this is a good outcome with the Attorney General. of New York State, for all parties involved…. ”
The dozen workers who came forward will each receive an additional $ 8,000 for emotional distress, a warning, James says, that the cost of targeting immigrant workers is high.
Comments are closed.