CASE UPDATE: Federal Court Grants Preliminary Approval of $162 Million Settlement for New York Home Care Workers From the Bench 

Brooklyn, N.Y. — A federal judge today granted preliminary approval from the bench — pending entry of a formal written order — of a proposed $162 million wage-and-hour class action settlement. The settlement will benefit 200,000 personal assistants who were paid through Public Partnerships LLC (PPL), the statewide fiscal intermediary for New York’s Consumer Directed Personal Assistance Program (CDPAP), and provided services in New York City, Long Island, and Westchester County between March 1, 2025 and April 30, 2026. 

Ruling from the bench in Calderon v. Public Partnerships, LLC, U.S. Magistrate Judge Lara K. Eshkenazi of the Eastern District of New York granted preliminary approval and certified a settlement class led by four plaintiffs, Philip Calderon, Farshad Pinchasi, Allison Fields, and Dana Folgar. Plaintiffs’ lawsuit alleged that PPL violated state and federal law by, among other things, failing to pay them accurately and on time, and by providing benefits that did not comply with the New York Home Care Worker Wage Parity Act.  The settlement is, to Plaintiffs’ knowledge, the first private class action settlement under the Home Care Worker Wage Parity Act, and a historically large wage-and-hour class action settlement. 

“Personal assistants provide essential care that keeps tens of thousands of older and disabled New Yorkers safely in their homes,” said Richard Blum, Staff Attorney in the Employment Law Unit at The Legal Aid Society. “Today’s action will help ensure that their hard-earned money is returned to them. We are grateful that the court granted preliminary approval.”  

“This settlement shows that New York’s Home Care Worker Wage Parity Act provides meaningful benefits and protections for home care workers.” said Hugh Baran, partner at Katz Banks Kumin LLP. “The court’s approval today marks a major step forward, and we look forward to final approval.”  

Under the settlement, eligible personal assistants do not need to take any action now. Following today’s preliminary approval, class members will receive formal notice of the settlement by email and text message. The court has scheduled a final approval hearing for November 10, 2026. 

Class members and the public can continue to receive updates regarding the settlement here: https://www.publicpartnershipssettlement.com/ 

Plaintiffs are represented by Hugh Baran, Emma Walters, and Avi Kumin at Katz Banks Kumin LLP and Richard Blum, Rebekah Cook-Mack, Michael Diller, B. Franco Olshansky, Elizabeth Saylor, Belkys Garcia, and Rebecca Antar at The Legal Aid Society. 

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Media Contacts: Alex Bradley, bradley@katzbanks.com; Alejandra Lopez, AILopez@legal-aid.org