HNR’s Workers Were Independent Contractors (1099)

News

Two New York Administrative Law Judges, in 1999 and 2014, found that nurses placed through Harry’s Nurses Registry are independent contractors. Here is the record, the judges and attorneys involved, and where things stand.

Court Exhibit (Case 1:17-cv-06350, Doc. 36-1, 86 pages)

For more than a decade, Harry’s Nurses Registry has defended its position that the nurses it places are independent contractors, not employees. Below are the judges and attorneys involved, followed by the record of how two New York judges came to agree with us.

In June 1999, a court found that HNR’s healthcare workers, who had been retained by the company, were independent contractors.

The Judges

Hon. Charles P. Sifton U.S. District Judge, E.D.N.Y. Decided the 2009 Gayle ruling.

Hon. Nicholas G. Garaufis U.S. District Judge, E.D.N.Y. Entered the 2012 Gayle judgment.

Hon. Marilyn D. Go U.S. Magistrate Judge, E.D.N.Y. Ordered the deposition on the affidavits.

Hon. Pamela K. Chen and Hon. Peggy Kuo U.S. District Judge and U.S.

Summary

1999 and 2014: Two New York ALJs ruled our nurses are independent contractors.
2010: The Department of Labor reopened the issue based on a license we had held since 1992.
2017: The Appeal Board reversed the ALJ rulings, and we appealed.
Federal case: In Gayle, the federal courts applied a different law, the FLSA, and reached a different result.

Click Here TO READ FULL 86 PAGES Court Exhibit (Case 1:17-cv-06350, Doc. 36-1, 86 pages)

1. How Our Nurses Work Our nurses are supervised by doctors, provide their own transportation and supplies, carry their own insurance, negotiate their own rates, and are free to work for other agencies.

2. 1999: Ruled Independent Contractors After a full hearing, an ALJ ruled in our favor. The Department of Labor never appealed.

3. 2010: The Question Reopened The Department cited “new information”: our home health license. That license was approved in 1992, seven years before the 1999 hearing.

4. 2014: A Second Judge Agrees A second ALJ found that the agency operated the same way as in 1999.

5. 2017: The Appeal The Appeal Board reversed both ALJs without addressing collateral estoppel. We appealed to the Appellate Division, Third Department.

6. The Federal Case In Gayle v. Harry’s Nurses Registry (07 CV 4672), the federal courts applied the FLSA and reached a different result. The Supreme Court declined review in 2015.

The plaintiffs’ attorney admitted he dropped the New York state-law claim:

He explained why: New York’s test for employee versus independent contractor “was not the same as the FLSA distinction,” and he feared state law might hurt his case.