Legal Aid and Katz Banks Kumin File Class Action Against Public Partnerships, LLC Over Unpaid Wages for Home Health Care Workers Amid Statewide Transition Chaos

Lawsuit Alleges State Contractor’s Payroll Failures Have Left Thousands of Home Care Workers Unpaid, Threatening Critical Services for Vulnerable New Yorkers

This release was originally published by the Legal Aid Society here.

(NEW YORK, NY) – The Legal Aid Society and Katz Banks Kumin LLP filed a class action lawsuit in the Eastern District of New York on behalf of an individual plaintiff and tens of thousands of home care workers against Public Partnerships, LLC (PPL), the newly contracted statewide intermediary for New York’s Consumer Directed Personal Assistance Program (CDPAP).

CDPAP is a New York State Medicaid program that empowers older adults and people with disabilities to hire, train, and manage their own home care workers — often trusted family members, friends, or neighbors. The program enables individuals to receive essential care in their homes and communities, allowing them to continue living independently. Advocates warn that PPL’s failures are forcing workers out of the field, threatening a collapse in care for more than 280,000 New Yorkers who rely on these services.

“PPL must be held fully accountable for leaving tens of thousands of hardworking caregivers, who provide critical support for family members and neighbors, without pay for weeks, violating state and federal wage laws. No caregiver should ever have to choose between caring for a loved one and being able to afford rent or groceries,” said Michael Diller, Staff Attorney with the Employment Law Unit at The Legal Aid Society. “We are committed to fighting vigorously for the rights of those we serve and every home care worker whose labor is indispensable to the strength and sustainability of New York’s healthcare system.”

“Our lead plaintiff in the case, Mr. Calderon, is a home care worker through CDPAP who has not been paid by PPL since the start of the month,” said Hugh Baran, partner at Katz Banks Kumin. “Not only is that unfair and morally wrong, it is against the law. PPL has not paid tens of thousands of home care workers in New York accurately, on time, or at all, putting them on the brink of financial ruin. We’re proud to join Legal Aid in representing our client and the caregivers who do critical work every day for those who need care.”

This litigation seeks to hold PPL accountable for its widespread failure to pay personal care assistants accurately, on time — or at all — since assuming its new role. These failures are not isolated but systemic, stemming from PPL’s fundamentally broken infrastructure for onboarding workers, tracking time, approving wages, and processing payroll. 

Workers across the state have reported an array of devastating issues, including:

• clock-in and clock-out errors;
• lost or deleted timesheets;
• automatic clock-outs during overnight shifts; and
• insurmountable barriers to fixing problems through PPL’s overwhelmed and ineffective customer support systems.

As a result, tens of thousands of personal assistants in New York City, Long Island, and Westchester County have faced wage theft and financial hardship, while the vulnerable older adults and people with disabilities who depend on their care have suffered dangerous disruptions. Advocates warn that unless these failures are immediately addressed, New York faces a crisis in its home care workforce — and in the lives of the 280,000 residents who rely on CDPAP services to live safely and independently at home.

The complaint seeks damages for PPL’s failure to pay required wages — including overtime and wage parity compensation — under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), the New York Labor Law, and the New York Wage Parity Act. Damages will continue to multiply until PPL fixes its payroll and reporting systems.

Lead Plaintiff Philip Calderon Summary

Philip Calderon is a 24-year-old Staten Island native who works as a personal assistant for his father through CDPAP. Calderon’s father, who suffers from severe arthritis and requires significant assistance with daily activities, relies on his son’s care to live safely and independently at home. Despite continuing to work full-time since April 1, Calderon has not received any wages from PPL. 

Although he has carefully reported his hours through PPL’s required systems — including the Time4Care app and faxed timesheets — his entries have been rejected or lost due to what company representatives described as an “IT problem.” 

Calderon has repeatedly tried to resolve the issue, including numerous phone calls to PPL’s overwhelmed support lines. But he has still not been paid for his essential work. His experience reflects the broader systemic failures that have left thousands of home care workers uncompensated and put vulnerable New Yorkers at risk.

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The Legal Aid Society exists for one simple yet powerful reason: to ensure that New Yorkers are not denied their right to equal justice because of poverty. For nearly 150 years, we have protected, defended, and advocated for those who have struggled in silence for far too long. Every day, in every borough, The Legal Aid Society changes the lives of our clients and helps improve our communities. www.legalaidnyc.org 

The lawyers of Katz Banks Kumin are nationally recognized leaders in the areas of whistleblower law, discrimination and sexual harassment law, wage and hour law, employment law, and civil rights and civil liberties matters. They are dogged advocates for their clients and are highly regarded by their adversaries for their tenacious representation. The firm handles cases nationwide with offices in Washington, D.C., New York, Philadelphia, and San Francisco. https://katzbanks.com