New York Paralegal Blog

CHICAGO – The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) filed a class race discrimination lawsuit in federal district court here today against Jackson Park Hospital and Medical Center. The EEOC charged that the hospital, on Chicago’s South Side, subjected a class of black female employees to different terms and conditions of employment and segregation in job assignments because of their race. The suit also alleged that at least one of the women was demoted in retaliation for opposing and complaining about unlawful employment practices.

WASHINGTON—Two owners of a fraudulent Detroit-area medical clinic, Martin and Joaquin Tasis, and a man who helped them launder the proceeds of the fraud, Leoncio Alayon, were convicted on 5/6/2011 by a federal jury in Detroit for their roles in a $9.1 million Medicare fraud scheme, the Departments of Justice and Health and Human Services (HHS) announced. Martin Tasis and Joaquin Tasis were each convicted of one count of conspiracy to commit health care fraud, one count of conspiracy to pay health care kickbacks and three counts of health care fraud. Martin Tasis was also convicted of one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering and one count of money laundering, and found not guilty on one money laundering count. Alayon was convicted of one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering and two counts of money laundering. According to evidence presented during the one-week trial, Martin and Joaquin Tasis were owners of Dearborn Rehabilitation and Medical Center (DMRC), a...

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. – Delta Family Health and Fitness for Children, a psychiatric resident treatment center in Hamburg, Ark., will pay $87,500 to settle a lawsuit for retaliation brought by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), the agency announced today. The EEOC’s suit (Civil Action No. 9-1058) alleged that Delta violated federal anti-discrimination law when it fired an employee who complained about sexual harassment, an identified witness to the discrimination, and two other employees who had filed charges with the EEOC. One employee complained about sexual harassment on Jan. 4, 2008, and named a co-worker as a witness to the harassment. Both employees were terminated on Jan. 7, 2008. Two other employees filed charges of discrimination with the agency. Both of these employees were terminated on Oct. 24, 2008. Retaliation for complaining about discrimination violates Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The EEOC filed suit in U.S. District Court for the Dis...

BOSTON—A former employee of a non-profit organization that provides support services to developmentally disabled adults was arraigned today in federal court for soliciting, demanding, and accepting kickbacks. CHARLES FEENEY, 56, of North Billerica, the former facilities director of non-profits Walnut Street Center (WSC) and Community Alternative Residential Environment, Inc. (CARE), was charged in a two-count indictment for kickbacks in connection with the renovation of a building that now serves, in part, as a day facility for disabled adults.

Allegedly Engaged in Improper Financial Relationship with Referring Physicians WASHINGTON – Detroit Medical Center, a non-profit company that owns and operates hospitals and outpatient facilities in Detroit, has agreed to pay the United States $30 million to settle allegations that it violated the False Claims Act, the Anti-Kickback Statute and the Stark Statute, by engaging in improper financial relationships with referring physicians, the Justice Department announced today. The Stark Statute and the Anti-Kickback Statute restrict the financial relationships that hospitals may have with doctors who refer patients to them. Most of the relationships at issue in this matter involved office lease agreements and independent contractor relationships that were either inconsistent with fair market value or not memorialized in writing.