Outten & Golden LLP, along with our co-counsel Barron & Budd, P.C. and Lieff Cabraser Heimann & Bernstein, LLP represent a group of current and former Military Family Life Counselors (MFLCs) who worked for MHN in a class and collective action lawsuit alleging that MHN misclassified MFLCs as independent contractors exempt from federal and state overtime pay requirements and failed to pay them overtime. Our claims are that, based on the economic reality of the relationship between MFLCs and MHN, MFLCs should have been classified as employees, not independent contractors, and that they were not otherwise exempt from the overtime requirements of state or federal laws. In November 2012, while this lawsuit was pending, MHN reclassified most MFLCs from independent contractor status to employee status. However, MHN still does not pay MFLCs for overtime hours they work. The case is Zaborowski et al. v. MHN Government Services, Inc., No. 12 Civ. 5109, in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California.
On April 25, 2013, the Judge presiding over the case issued an order conditionally certifying a nationwide collective of MHN MFLCs under the Federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), and authorizing the plaintiffs to send notice to all potential members of the FLSA collective to inform them of their right to join the lawsuit and attempt to recover unpaid overtime compensation under the FLSA. The deadline to opt into the case passed, so it is no longer possible to join the case.
Please contact Jahan C.Sagafi or Christopher M. McNerney, or call (212) 207-0043 for more information.
(*Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome.)
