This week, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of the Solicitor filed a lawsuit asking a federal court to stop Advanced Care Staffing – a Brooklyn, New York, healthcare staffing provider – from illegally requiring employees to repay earned wages if they do not work for the employer for three years. The lawsuit asserts that ACS used terms it added to employees’ contracts to force employees who left before the three-year term into private arbitrations, and then demanded they not only repay earned wages, but also ACS’s future profits, plus attorneys’ fees and arbitration costs. These demands would lead to employees being paid less than the federal minimum wage. We are seeking an injunction against this grossly illegal conduct, as well as back wages and liquidated damages for the affected employees.
This situation is just one example of the harm caused by the rise of mandatory arbitration clauses. Many employers now insert – or rather, bury – these clauses in the paperwork that employees must accept if they want a job. They prohibit employees from bringing claims before a judge or jury for wage theft, discrimination and other violations of federal law. Instead, disputes must be resolved through a private arbitrator. These arrangements typically require employees to give up their right to bring class and collective actions, which have historically complemented the Labor Department’s enforcement actions.
Most low-wage workers simply cannot afford the high cost of pursuing...
Earlier this month, in United States ex rel. Zafirov v. Florida Medical Associates, Inc., the Eleventh Circuit joined four other circuits in holding that the qui tam provisions of the False Claims ...