Mass. Medical Transportation Business Cited $460K for Wage Law Violations

A Massachusetts medical transportation business and its managers have been cited $460,945 in restitution and penalties for violating workers’ rights and state wage laws.

Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey’s office began investigating Watertown, Mass.-based Quantum Transportation LLC and its managers, Andrey Borzy and Aliaksei Rudy, after receiving complaints from workers who alleged they were misclassified and were not paid the appropriate overtime rate. Quantum Transportation, which closed in 2016, operated throughout the state providing medical transportation services.

“When employers misclassify their workers as independent contractors, they cheat their employees of their wages and other important job protections,” Healey said in a press release issued by her office. “My office is committed to taking action when companies don’t play by the rules.”

Independent contractors are not entitled to many legal rights that protect employees, such as workers’ compensation, unemployment insurance and overtime, the release stated. The AG’s investigation revealed that while Quantum was primarily funded under a MassHealth contract to provide medical transportation services for MassHealth clients, workers were misclassified as independent contractors. The investigation also revealed that the company failed to pay these employees overtime.

The citations against Quantum and its managers require payment of restitution to 141 former employees and penalties to the Commonwealth.

As part of its continued efforts to protect workers and their families in Massachusetts, the AG’s Office issued its third annual Labor Day Report on the office’s efforts to address wage theft and other forms of worker exploitation. The report shows that in fiscal year 2018, the office opened 729 cases and assessed more than $9.6 million in restitution and penalties against employers on behalf of working people in Massachusetts.