NJ ALF to Pay $590K to Settle Overtime Suit

An Allendale assisted-living home agreed Friday to pay $590,000 to settle a lawsuit asserting that the company shaved employee work hours to cut costs and avoid paying overtime, and that it ordered some workers to punch out and then work off the clock.

The settlement, approved by Judge Kenneth J. Slomenski in Hackensack, requires The Allendale Community for Mature Living to pay $175,000 to create a compensation fund for 412 past and present employees who allegedly were underpaid while working at the facility.

$400,000 will go to pay the fees of the Roseland law firm Brach Eichler LLC, which litigated the case.

Those who were named representatives in the suit, former employee Erin MacArthur, a Paramus resident, and current employee Denise Acuna, of Elmwood Park, who were in court Friday, will receive $7,500 each in the settlement.

The agreement “is premised on defendant Allendale establishing a fund, and reprocessing time sheets and time claims, time punches made by class members, and paying claimants the amount of lost wages,” Charles X. Gormally, an attorney for the employees, told the court.

A separate lawsuit filed against the company and its principles is continuing under the state whistle-blower laws, contending that Allendale and its principles retaliated against and harassed a former director of human resources who raised concerns about the payroll practices with company executives. The former administrator, Gina Liberali, was terminated because of her actions, the suit says.

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Allentown assisted-living home to pay $590,000 to settle overtime suit