Fairfax Home Care Provider Ordered To Pay $1.6M In Back Wages

FAIRFAX CITY, VA — A federal court this week ordered a Fairfax home care provider to pay $1.6 million in back wages to more than 200 health aides after a federal investigation discovered the company willingly denied the workers overtime pay.

1st Adult & Pediatrics Healthcare Services Inc. and its owners, Carolyn Bryant-Taylor and Kafomdi Josephine Okocha, were ordered to pay $834,782 in back wages and an equal amount in liquidated damages to the affected workers, the U.S. Department of Labor said in a news release. They were also ordered to pay more than $48,000 in civil penalties to the Department of Labor, officials said.

The order comes three months after 1st Adult & Pediatrics Healthcare Services Inc. agreed to pay $3 million after federal authorities said that over a period of four years, the company routinely billed Virginia Medicaid for home health services that were not actually provided.

A federal investigation into the company, which provides skilled nursing and pediatric care services, revealed the affected workers were paid straight-time wages for all hours worked, including those over 40 in a single workweek. Investigators also learned the company did not keep required payroll records, a violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act.

Despite the investigation's findings, 1st Adult & Pediatrics Healthcare Services, Bryant-Taylor, and Okocha refused to pay back wages and damages owed to the workers, authorities said.

“Hard-working home care aides provide essential services to people in need and deserve to be paid all their legally earned wages,” Nicholas Fiorello, a director with the Department of Labor, said in a statement. “Our investigation found the employers willfully disregarded the law and used pay practices that harmed their own employees.”

The Department of Labor filed a lawsuit against the company and its owners to recover the amounts owed in September 2022.