Health Carousel settles labor lawsuit for $6M

Health Carousel, a Norwood-based travel nursing and staffing firm, has agreed to settle for $6 million a class action lawsuit brought by former employees who had accused it of fraud and violating labor trafficking laws.

The staffing firm, which places many healthcare workers from the Philippines to work in the U.S., denied the accusations. The company said the lawsuit was a contract dispute with former employees who failed to fulfill their three-year agreement.

In the end, Health Carousel agreed to pay about 5,500 mostly former employees roughly $600 apiece to settle the civil case. The law firms that represented the employees will collect $2 million. The settlement was filed Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Cincinnati.

“While Health Carousel acted lawfully and in good faith, we decided that agreeing to this settlement is in the best interest of our company and our healthcare professionals,” Health Carousel said in a prepared statement, added it was “proud of its business practices” and the well-being of its workers was “very important” to the company. 

“We are pleased to bring this four-year old matter to a close and continue to focus on our mission of bringing highly trained healthcare professionals to the United States to help address nationwide staffing shortages.”

Health Carousel officials added progress in the case strengthened their hand.

“The plaintiffs’ allegations fell apart during the sworn deposition, which ultimately led to a speedy resolution,” company spokeswoman Kelly Love said.

Attorneys for the workers did not respond immediately to messages seeking comment.

The legal battle stemmed from three named plaintiffs: Novie Dale Carmen, a registered nurse; Jerlin Amistoso, a licensed physical therapist; and Kersteen Flores, a registered nurse. All three were from the Philippines and began working in U.S. through Health Carousel placement in 2018.

All three signed employment contracts to work for about three years with Health Carousel after being recruited in the Philippines. The company makes workers sign multi-year contracts to cover the costs of arranging work visas, proper medical credentials to work in U.S. healthcare facilities and airfare. When an employee leaves Health Carousel before completing their contract, the company charges them typically between $20,000 to $30,000 to reimburse for expenses.

All three plaintiffs left Health Carousel before completing their contracts and later sued, claiming the agreements were misleading and obtained their labor by “abuse of law or legal process,” according to the lawsuit.

Among the issues they raised, overtime and training periods weren’t counted toward the workers’ time commitment to the company. Health Carousel said those restrictions were carefully spelled out in the contracts they signed.

As part of the settlement, an undisclosed “small number” of plaintiffs’ outstanding fees were waived.

This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Health care placement firms settles 'trafficking' lawsuit for $6M