A former employee and would-be counselor claims that a New York rehab center forced him and other employees to work without pay in a class action lawsuit filed last week.
Lead plaintiff, Bryan Ahrens, says that he was routinely forced to work more than 50 hours a week in the lawsuit filed in federal court against his former employer, Phoenix Houses of Long Island, Inc, on behalf of other hourly employees. Ahrens says that when he raised concerns about his work schedule and unpaid overtime, the rehab center operator retaliated.
Ahrens says he worked for the rehab center as a primary residential counselor in two of the company’s locations. Ahrens, who was also seeking a counselor’s license when he worked Phoenix Houses, says that he documented his unpaid hours and wanted to use them towards obtaining his certification; however, his supervisor at the rehab center refused to sign off.
The class action lawsuit contends that his supervisor’s refusal to sign off on Ahrens’ time cards was done in retaliation after the plaintiff expressed concerns about how the company was keeping track of its employees’ work hours and unpaid overtime.
“Defendant retaliated against plaintiff Ahrens and engaged in conduct to prevent plaintiff Ahrens from continuing to raise his concerns over his unpaid hours and wages, by unnecessarily delaying and refusing to submit the necessary paperwork for obtaining his license to practice counseling, and ultimately leading to plaintiff’s constructive discharge,” alleges the complaint
As a result, Ahrens was unable to meet the requirements for his counseling license, leading to his constructive discharge.
The class action lawsuit alleges that Phoenix House fails to pay hourly employees for overtime work and provides them with inaccurate wage statements in violation of federal and state wage and hour laws. Ahrens is seeking to represent other hourly employees, including counselors, recovery support specialists, and recovery support staff who worked at Phoenix house between May 20, 2018, and the present for claims of unpaid overtime and other labor law violations.
The plaintiff says that Phoenix House operators failed to accommodate his disability – anxiety – when they forced him to work with patients who had tested positive for COVID-19 without proper safety precautions. In fact, Ahrens says that the Chief Executive Officer of the company “mocked” his requests for accommodations at one point.
“Phoenix House clearly had a policy of only paying for a set schedule while requiring its employees to perform additional work that was not paid for in any way, and once my client raised this issue he was retaliated against in a pretty horrific matter,” a lawyer representing Ahrens told Law360.
Have you ever worked unpaid overtime? We want to hear about it! Tell us in the comment section below.
The lead plaintiff is represented by Brent Pelton of Pelton Graham LLC.
The Rehab Center Unpaid Overtime Class Action Lawsuit is Ahrens v. Phoenix Houses of Long Island Inc., Case No. 2:21-cv-02864, in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York.
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