New York Paralegal Blog

The recent $55 million settlement secured by New York Attorney General Letitia James against Americare, Inc., a major New York City home care agency, shines a critical light on a vital piece of legislation: the New York Wage Parity Act. This case isn't just about a big number; it's about protecting some of our most vulnerable workers and safeguarding taxpayer dollars meant for essential care. So, what exactly is the New York Wage Parity Act, and what happens when companies fail to follow it? Let's break it down. The New York Wage Parity Act: Ensuring Fair Pay for Essential Care The New York Wage Parity Act was enacted with a clear and crucial purpose: to ensure that home health aides, who provide invaluable services to the sick and homebound, receive fair compensation for their demanding work. These caregivers, predominantly women, immigrants, and people of color, assist with everything from bathing and dressing to feeding and lifting. Their work is the backbone...

The November 4, 2025, indictment of Bradley Heppner, former CEO and Chairman of GWG Holdings, Inc., shines a stark light on the serious consequences awaiting executives who allegedly abuse their positions for personal gain. This case, which ultimately led to GWG's bankruptcy and over a billion dollars in losses for thousands of retail investors, involves a web of alleged financial fraud and deception. Here is a breakdown of the core legal principles and the potential penalties for the alleged crimes. The Alleged Crimes: A Breach of Trust and Market Integrity Heppner's indictment encompasses a range of serious charges, all centered on the alleged fraudulent extraction of funds from a public company. These include: Securities Fraud: This is at the heart of the matter. When a company sells securities (like GWG's L Bonds) to the public, it must provide accurate and truthful information. Securities fraud charges typically arise when someone makes false or misleading ...

Global Health Care Company Abbott Laboratories Inc. has pleaded guilty and agreed to pay $1.5 billion to resolve its criminal and civil liability arising from the company’s unlawful promotion of the prescription drug Depakote for uses not approved as safe and effective by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the Justice Department announced today.

CLEVELAND — Health Management Group, Inc. (HMG) of Akron, Ohio will pay $260,000 to settle a sex discrimination lawsuit filed by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), the agency announced today.

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. -- New Prime, Inc., one the nation’s largest trucking companies, violated federal law by discriminating against female truck driver applicants when it required that they be trained by female trainers only, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) charged in a lawsuit it filed today.

SAN FRANCISCO — The Pepsi Bottling Group, Inc. (NYSE: PBG) agreed to pay $120,000 and implement preventive measures to settle a disability discrimination lawsuit filed by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), the agency announced today.

BOSTON — Following an investigation and audit of Form I-9 documents by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), 14 New England employers have been fined this fiscal year for various violations that enabled companies to hire illegal aliens. The inspection of the employers' documents are part of ICE's worksite enforcement strategy, launched in 2009 to reduce the demand for illegal employment and protect employment opportunities for the nation's lawful workforce, by focusing its resources on the auditing and investigation of employers suspected of cultivating illegal workplaces by hiring workers who are later determined to be employed illegally.

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Cavalier Telephone Company Inc. will pay $1 million and furnish other significant relief to settle an age discrimination lawsuit filed by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), the agency announced today.

BALTIMORE – Johns Hopkins Home Care Group, Inc. (JHHCG), a full-service home health care provider, violated federal law when it fired an employee because of her disability and because she challenged the company’s failure to accommodate her, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) charged in a lawsuit it announced today.

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – A Charlotte, N.C.-based operator of janitorial services violated federal law when it failed to abide by the terms of a voluntary mediation settlement agreement it entered into with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), the EEOC charged in a lawsuit filed today.

PORTLAND, ORE. – Fred Meyer Stores, Inc., a grocery chain employing more than 30,000, violated federal law when it failed to stop a customer from sexually harassing several female employees, the U.S Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) charged in a lawsuit filed today. According to the EEOC’s lawsuit, female employees at Fred Meyer’s Oak Grove store in Milwaukie, Ore., were sexually harassed by a customer who visited the store almost daily, and often several times a day, since at least 2007. He would sit by the employee time clock in order to pull women onto his lap as they walked past to punch in. He would also rub up against female workers, giving unwanted hugs and groping their bodies, the EEOC said. When they protested, the customer would smirk or make comments such as, “That’s what they’re there for,” indicating the employee’s breasts. Despite numerous complaints by the staff, the EEOC said, Fred Meyer managers excused the customer’s offensive behavior ...

ALBUQUERQUE -- A large national shoe retailer, Genesco, Inc., doing business as Journeys, has agreed to settle a sex discrimination and retaliation lawsuit filed by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) for $20,000, the agency announced on 7/1/2011. The EEOC had charged the company with subjecting three teenaged female workers at an Albuquerque Journeys store to sexual harassment. The EEOC’s lawsuit, EEOC v. Genesco Inc., d/b/a Journeys, 09-CV-952 WJ/RHS, charged that Genesco violated federal anti-discrimination laws when it subjected Lauren Torres, who was 16 at the time, and two other female workers, aged 16 and 19 at the time, to sexual harassment by an assistant manager. The EEOC’s suit also alleged that Torres was retaliated against after complaining about the harassment when her hours were reduced and she was subjected to retaliatory comments by other Genesco managers. Sex discrimination, including sexual harassment, and retaliation for complai...

Teletrack, Inc. has agreed to pay $1.8 million to settle Federal Trade Commission charges that it sold credit reports to marketers, in violation of the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA). This settlement seeks to protect consumers’ privacy by ensuring that their sensitive credit report information is not sold for marketing purposes. According to the FTC’s complaint, as part of its business Teletrack sells credit reports and other services to businesses – such as payday lenders, rental purchase stores, and non-prime rate auto lenders – that mainly serve financially distressed consumers. These businesses use Teletrack’s credit reports to decide whether and on what terms to provide credit to their customers. The complaint alleges that Teletrack created a marketing database of information that it gathered through its credit reporting business. It then sold the information in this database – including lists of consumers who had applied for non-traditional credit products – to marketers. F...

Novo Nordisk, Inc. has entered into a civil settlement agreement with the United States in which it has agreed to pay the United States and several states $1.725 million to resolve allegations that the company caused false or fraudulent claims to be submitted to the Medicaid program in connection with its marketing of the diabetes drugs Novolin, Novolin 70/30, Novolog, and Novolog 70/30. The settlement was announced by Loretta E. Lynch, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York. As alleged in the civil settlement agreement, Novo Nordisk sales representatives in four states and the District of Columbia made payments to Rite Aid pharmacists in exchange for those pharmacists recommending the Novolin and Novolog products. The pharmacists, together with Novo Nordisk sales representatives in those states, identified patients who were candidates to use Novolin or Novolog and communicated with physicians, patients, or other pharmacists to encourage them to use or recommen...

TAMPA – Four Amigos Travel, Inc. and Top Dog Travel, Inc., related Florida-based travel telemarketing firms, violated federal law when they allowed five female employees at their Largo, Fla., location to be sexually harassed by supervisors, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) charged in a lawsuit filed on 5/26/2011. According to the EEOC’s class suit, several of the firms’ male supervisors, including the general manager, conducted daily sales meetings which were sexually charged and raised sexually explicit discussions and propositioned female employees for sex. The harassers also inappropriately touched themselves and the female employees, made other aggressive sexual advances towards them and used derogatory terms such as “b-----s.” One male supervisor is alleged to have presented a female employee with a picture of his private parts and asked, “Impressive, aren’t I?” The EEOC says that the women were offended and intimidated by the harassment and were mocked ...

SALINAS, Calif. -- Monterey Gourmet Foods, Inc., a major producer of refrigerated gourmet food products, agreed to pay $535,000 to four Latino workers and to implement preventive measures to settle a sexual harassment and retaliation lawsuit filed by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), the agency announced today. According to the EEOC’s lawsuit, three women and one man employed as packers in the lasagna, tamale and ravioli production units in Salinas suffered sexual harassment by the same male supervisor. Starting in August 2006, their new crew leader’s conduct included sexual comments, texting obscene pictures, and unwanted physical touching. Although the employees reported the harassment to management and the human resources department, the company failed to take prompt and effective corrective action. I n May 2008, just weeks after two workers filed discrimination charges with the EEOC, all four workers were discharged or laid off as retaliation. “You should...

PHOENIX – High-Tech Institute, Inc., doing business as Anthem College Online, will pay $260,000 as part of a settlement of a sexual harassment lawsuit filed by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), the agency announced today. In its suit in U.S. District Court for the District of Arizona (Civil Action No.CV-09-2041-ROS), the EEOC charged that Anthem College subjected female employees to repeated sexual harassment by supervisors. According to the EEOC, six female admissions representatives working at the Phoenix, Ariz., location were frequently sexually harassed by three supervisors. The EEOC’s allegations included that the supervisors engaged in unwanted sexual touching and comments, writing sexually suggestive e-mails and soliciting sex from employees during unwelcome visits to the employees’ homes in the early morning hours. Some of this abusive behavior was witnessed by other Anthem College employees, the EEOC said. The EEOC maintained that Anthem ...

WASHINGTON – Iheanyi Frank Chinasa, 39, of Gaithersburg, Md., was sentenced today to 84 months in prison for his participation in a scheme to defraud Cisco Systems Inc., announced Assistant Attorney General Lanny A. Breuer of the Criminal Division, U.S. Attorney Neil H. MacBride of the Eastern District of Virginia and Michael Morehart, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI Richmond, Va., Field Office. Chinasa also was ordered by Chief U.S. District Judge James R. Spencer to pay restitution of $18,761,825, jointly and severally with co-defendant Robert Kendrick Chambliss, and to serve three years of supervised release following his prison term. Chinasa was convicted on Feb. 7, 2011, by a federal jury in Richmond of one count of conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud, eight counts of mail fraud, one count of wire fraud and one count of obstruction of an official proceeding. Chinasa and Chambliss, 31, of Henrico, Va., were indicted on Aug. 18, 2010. Chambliss pleaded guilty on Ja...

WASHINGTON – Citizens Republic Bancorp Inc. (CRBC) and Citizens Bank of Flint, Mich., will open a loan production office in an African-American neighborhood in Detroit, invest approximately $3.6 million in Wayne County, Mich., and take other steps as part of a settlement to resolve allegations that they engaged in a pattern or practice of discrimination on the basis of race and color, the Justice Department announced today. The settlement, which remains subject to court approval, was filed in conjunction with the Justice Department’s complaint in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan. The complaint alleges that CRBC, as the successor to Republic Bank, and Citizens Bank violated the Fair Housing Act and the Equal Credit Opportunity Act, which prohibit financial institutions from discriminating on the basis of race and color in their mortgage lending practices. The lawsuit alleges that Citizens Bank, and Republic Bank before it, have served the credit needs...

WASHINGTON—Two Miami-area corporations, American Therapeutic Corporation (ATC) and Medlink Professional Management Group Inc., pleaded guilty today in U.S. District Court in Miami for a fraud scheme that resulted in the submission of more than $200 million in fraudulent claims to Medicare, the Departments of Justice and Health and Human Services (HHS) announced. According to court documents, ATC is a Florida corporation headquartered in Miami that operated purported partial hospitalization programs (PHPs) in seven different locations throughout South Florida and Orlando, Fla. A PHP is a form of intensive treatment for severe mental illness. Medlink is a Florida corporation headquartered in Miami that purported to act as a “management company” for health care businesses. In reality, ATC and a related company, the American Sleep Institute (ASI), were Medlink’s only clients. ATC and Medlink are each charged with conspiracy to commit health care fraud in a superseding indictment unsealed...