A class action lawsuit claims home health care provider Option Care Enterprises has allegedly shorted worker wages, among other alleged violations of California labor law.
The lawsuit was initially filed in Ventura County Superior Court in August, but was removed to federal court in Los Angeles on Nov. 27.
Employees are often required to be on call, "with the ability to respond if needed within a mere 15 minutes," the lawsuit states.
"During these periods of being 'on call' — which are mandatory and scheduled by the Employer — employees like Plaintiff are either not paid at all, or are paid at a rate well below the statutory minimum wage rate," the suit alleges.
Employees are sometimes required to work more than 12 hours a day, but aren't given a second meal break, allegedly a violation of California law, the lawsuit states.
The suit also alleges the company has supplied inaccurate wage statements.
"The absence of accurate and complete information on their wage statements has prevented timely challenges to Defendants' unlawful pay practices, required discovery and mathematical computations to determine the amount of wages owed and number of hours actually worked, caused
difficulty and expense in attempting to reconstruct time and pay records, and led to the submission of inaccurate information about wages and deductions to state and federal government agencies," the lawsuit states.
The lawsuit seeks damages and back pay, plus attorney fees.
The lawsuit was filed on behalf of named plaintiff Cynthia Gilbert, of Ventura County.
The plaintiffs are represented by attorneys Daniel J. Palay and Brian D. Hefelinger, of Palay Hefelinger APC, of Ventura.
Gilbert v. Option Care Enterprises Inc. U.S. District Court for the Central District of California, 2:23-cv-09992