Stephanie Higgins v. Bayada Home Health Care, Inc.

Scranton, Pennsylvania employment law layers represented Plaintiffs who sued Defendant on a Fair Labor Standards Act violation theory.





Stephanie Higgins and her co-plaintiffs, the appellants before us now, filed a collective action and putative class action alleging that their employer, Bayada Home Care, Inc., made improper deductions from their accumulated paid time off (which, with apologies for the several acronyms we are about to use, we join the parties in calling "PTO"). The plaintiffs argue that the deductions were effectively reductions in their salary and thus made in violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act ("FLSA"), 29 U.S.C. § 201, et seq., and state employment laws, including, as relevant to Higgins, the Pennsylvania Minimum Wage Act ("PMWA"), 43 P.S. § 333.101, et seq. Their primary contention is that PTO qualifies as salary under the FLSA and its related regulations, and that, by deducting from their PTO, Bayada made deductions from their salary, which is something the FLSA and regulations forbid. The District Court saw a meaningful distinction between PTO and salary and so granted partial summary judgment for Bayada. The Court then certified its decision for immediate appeal.

Stipulation of Dismissal. Signed by Honorable Jennifer P. Wilson on 6/22/2023. (ve) (Entered: 06/22/2023)