Bayada Home Healthcare, the nation’s largest provider of home care services, has agreed to settle a class-action lawsuit filed in Philadelphia that alleged the company failed to pay nurses for the time they spent briefing new nurses and caregivers about patient conditions and for mandatory training sessions.
Legal Intelligencer first reported the $13.5 million settlement with the Philadelphia District Court on Wednesday. Bayada, a Pennsauken nonprofit with revenue of $1.6 billion in 2022, said the settlement terms are not final. “We are not in a position to make any statements at this time,” the company said.
An expert report included in the nurses’ pretrial memorandum estimated that Beyada has paid $30.8 million in back wages to about 11,000 Pennsylvania nurses since August 2013. The lawsuit was filed in 2016. The nurses are represented by the Philadelphia firms of Schaffer & Geyer and Miller Shah LLP, and the Chicago law firm of Stephen Zouras.
Bayada, represented by lawyers from Buchanan Ingersoll & Rooney’s Harrisburg and Pittsburgh offices, said in a pretrial memorandum that nurses take regular breaks during their shifts to complete paperwork. The firm said Medicaid and other insurers don’t pay for home nurses who work overlapping shifts.
Baiada’s founder and former CEO, Mark Baiada, donated the company to a nonprofit he created for this purpose in 2018. His son, David Baiada, now serves as CEO.
