Settlement Website: IPWageSettlement.com
Objection Deadline: 07/22/2022
Exclusion Deadline: 07/22/2022
Claim Form: Affected providers are not required to file a claim for benefitting from the settlement.
Deadline For Submitting Claim: 07/22/2022
Final Hearing Date: 09/16/2022
Settlement Amount: $116 million
Proof Of Purchase: No proof of purchase is applicable
Potential Claim Amount: As per the settlement terms, the providers will receive a portion of the settlement fund depending on the amount of work performed by them without compensation. Class members having the highest number of uncompensated hours will naturally be eligible for the largest share of the settlement fund. The payment to class members will be made on a pro-rata basis depending on the number of hours the plaintiffs claimed to have been working without pay during the class period and the corresponding wage rate for those hours. If peer class members do not cash their cheques or the cost of other settlement expenses is less than estimated, then you will be eligible for up to two additional payments which will be your proportional share of the remaining overall settlement fund plus interest accrued on the fund.
The Washington Department of Social and Health Services (DSHS) is responsible for offering several services ranging from housing assistance to youth services, child support, disability support, mental health services, and medical support. The department operates with multiple subdivisions which help offer these services. However, a class-action lawsuit has been filed against Washington DSHS alleging they had reduced paid care hours to providers. The terms of the settlement are expected to benefit individual providers who were under contract terms with the Washington DSHS to offer personal care services to a client and whose in-home care hours were reduced by DSHS after a Comprehensive Assessment Reporting Evaluation or CARE assessment coded the client to have a “shared benefit” status.
As per the class-action lawsuit, the Washington DSHS failed to properly pay the wages owed to various providers between March 2014 to February 2021. The number of care hours paid to individual providers was allegedly reduced by DSHS as the providers shared care duties with single or multiple clients in the same household. According to the plaintiffs, DSHS refused to pay providers for various tasks undertaken like shopping, making meals, supplying wood, or doing housework although the providers performed the work. Plaintiffs and similarly situated IPs (Individual providers) performed various compensable work for which they weren’t paid due to DSHS applying its shared policies, rules, and procedures.
According to the wage-and-hour class-action lawsuit, DSHS violated various Washington labor laws as it failed to rightfully compensate providers for the work performed by them. Claims have been made under Washington’s Wage Rebate Act and Minimum Wage Act by the plaintiffs in this class-action lawsuit. Though Washington DSHS hasn’t admitted any wrongdoing, they have agreed to honor the claims made against them with a $116 million settlement. Class members will lose their legal rights to take legal action in the future against DSHS if they do not opt out of the settlement. Class members who do not opt out of the settlement will receive a cheque automatically in the mail.
