Marlene Urquhart says she spent seven years caring for an elder as part of her job for the home health care agency 24/7 Home Care. She says she had to lift, bathe, feed, and support a woman who was living at home alone, and needed support so she would not fall. She also pressed remote controls when the woman couldn’t use her hands and stayed awake through the night when the patient screamed or needed help.
But Urquhart, a Jamaican home health aide, said the company only paid her for 12 or 13 hours of many 24-hour shifts and owes her hundreds of thousands of dollars in stolen wages.
In April 2025, Urquhart filed a complaint with the New York State Department of Labor (DOL) against 24/7 Home Care (a.k.a. 1st Help Homecare Agency) with help from the pro-worker nonprofit Flushing Workers Center.
Under New York’s home care pay rules, agencies can pay employees for 13 hours during a 24-hour shift, as long as the worker gets three hours of meal breaks and eight hours of sleep (at least five hours of which are uninterrupted). If these breaks are interrupted, the time must be paid. The Department of Labor says home health aides are essential workers and need rest to care safely.
Urquhart said, however, that’s not what happened in her case. In an interview, Urquhart explained that 24/7 hired her as a companion, but the assignment quickly shifted to full physical care. She said her patient had suffered strokes; had limited use of one side of her body; needed bed baths, meal preparation, and help walking; and often had to be fed. “I cared for a patient who needed my help to do everything. She couldn’t get out of bed. I developed health problems –– back and knee pain –– from lifting my patient, and sleepless nights. I took my case to the DOL and I experienced a lot of racism. 24/7 accused me of being a liar; they said I only worked 12 hours, and the DOL took their side. Shame! I am fighting back!”
“She kept screaming at night,” Urquhart said about the patient she worked with. “Several [aides] … complained even to the agency that they don’t want to be there anymore because the lady does not allow them to sleep.”
Urquhart worked weekends, beginning on Friday and leaving Monday morning around 9 a.m. She said her patient lived alone but feared being left by herself –– she required someone present around the clock. “That patient needed 24-hour assistance,” Urquhart contends. “If I wasn’t there, she’s living by herself … If I wasn’t there for 24/7, who took over the shift when I left for the 12 hours?”
Urquhart said she regularly complained to 24/7 Home Care /1st Help HomeCare agency owner Rita Cohen about the lack of sleep and the strain of lifting the patient. She said she and other workers were told not to document problems like this and instead to call the office. “She told us not to document,” Urquhart said. “I never … even have a form to fill out … We would call it in.”
When reached by phone, Cohen said that since the Urquhart case is still being negotiated, her lawyer has asked her not to comment. “I can only say,” she told the AmNews, “you have the whole story wrong. We are doing everything legally.”
Urquhart said that in 2021, workers were called in to sign paperwork, “and on the part where they said that I get eight hours of sleep. I did not put my signature there,” she said. “Now it shows that my signature is there [and it’s] totally different from my signature. I know for sure that’s not my signature.”
Sarah Ahn of the Flushing Workers Center said the organization raised that issue with the DOL after the employer submitted the document. “We had also told the Department of Labor that Marlene never signed this document and they’re submitting that,” Ahn said. “Marlene was able to see it because they submitted that to the Department of Labor, and we let them know that Marlene purposely did not sign this document because [she said] this is a lie, but as far as we know, they’re not doing anything about that.”
Asked for comment about this document and accusations that Urquhart was being treated unfairly during her DOL hearing, the DOL press office said it would not be able to respond to AmNews inquiries adequately by press time.
Documents provided by Flushing Workers show that in an April 20, 2026, email, an investigative specialist with the DOL’s Division of Labor Standards wrote: “I am reaching out to advise that the employer has offered $3,000.00 in full settlement of your claim. Please let me know if you accept this offer or if you have a counteroffer you would like me to relay to the employer’s attorney. Please respond no later than 4/25.”
Urquhart rejected that offer, and said a later $6,000 offer was also an insult. She said the agency later offered $140,000, while she believes the unpaid wages total about $260,000. “It was a difficult job. It was a hard job, it was a tiring job,” she said. “I developed sicknesses from this job, so I’m entitled to get what I work for.”
A September 8, 2026, DOL email to Flushing Workers said: “Since we have not received any additional records for the period of 2019–2022, the Department is prepared to proceed with the Order to Comply for the amount computed: $140,127.00. Please advise if you would like the Department to proceed. If you do not agree with this amount, we will close the case as withdrawn so that the claimant can take her own private legal action. Please advise by 9/15/26.”
Ahn said the case is still open and that Flushing Workers expects a judgment shortly, but they see the DOL as relying on the employer’s account for part of the claim. “They are taking the employer’s word that Marlene did not work 24 hours for three years,” she said, noting that, if they do, Urquhart’s earned wages will be cut in half.
