Wage Theft and Fraud Alleged at Boston Home-Health Business
Cities need to do more to protect their workers says one labor-rights advocate after the owner of a Massachusetts healthcare company was arrested on charges of defrauding MassHealth.
“The Attorney General believes on the one hand that the owner of this company defrauded the government of millions of dollars, and on the other hand that she paid her employees fairly, when at least two people have said there was wage theft,” said worker’s rights organizer Marcus Cella.
Boston-based Harmony Healthcare’s owner, Elena Kurbatzky, was arrested on suspicion of stealing $2.7 million from MassHealth through fraudulent billing. These charges are in addition to complaints filed by employees alleging wage theft.
The Attorney General will not address the wage theft claims as it pursues its investigation.
The Home Healthcare industry in Massachusetts is one of the leading perpetrators of wage theft in the state, according to statistics gathered by MuckRock.com. Home healthcare aides most often earn $12 — $15 per hour on a part-time or contract basis, and often report not being paid. The state has in the past aggressively pursued healthcare fraud, while doing very little to assist employees recover their earned wages.
One home health aide, working for another Massachusetts company, described her experience with wage theft in an email.
“My day consisted of my full time job in the morning at a preschool/daycare-then I would go to [my client’s] house after and clean, do very light cooking, run errands.” She says her client would text her late at night and often yell at her as she worked. When she decided to quit, she says her client never paid her for the last two weeks of work. The company not only didn’t help her recover those wages, they held her first paycheck for more than a month.
“It amazes me how these companies work and how they get away with it. I’m sure I’m not the first or the last.”
She filed a complaint with the Attorney General, but says nobody ever responded.
Marcus Cella, spokesperson for a group of Somerville workers who recently settled claims with Five Horses Tavern, says he is not surprised nobody responded.
“The state doesn’t have the capacity to take on wage theft. It’s such a widespread problem in healthcare, in nursing homes, in construction and restaurants and the tech industry. Businesses know they can get away with it because the attorney general will issue a small fine at most,” he said. “Governor Baker needs to make preventing wage theft a priority, and cities need to step up and protect their workers.”
Elena Kurbatzky will be arraigned August 8th.
