Kurovskaya v. Project O.H.R. (Office for Homecare Referral), Inc.

Summary

The Appellate Division, First Department affirmed an order granting class certification and leave to amend a complaint brought by home health aides alleging wage violations, including unpaid overtime and compensation for live-in shifts. The court held that the plaintiffs satisfied the requirements for class certification under CPLR 901 and 902 and that the proposed amendment asserting a Living Wage Law claim was not futile or prejudicial. The court dismissed as abandoned an appeal from an order approving class-action notice.

Holdings

1. Plaintiffs submitted sufficient evidence to satisfy the requirements of CPLR 901, including numerosity, commonality and predominance, typicality, and adequacy of the proposed class claims.
2. The class action was the superior vehicle for resolving the wage disputes because individual damages were likely insufficient to make individual litigation economically feasible and pursuing approximately 1,000 individual lawsuits would substantially burden litigants and courts.
3. Supreme Court properly granted plaintiffs leave to amend the complaint to add a claim under New York City's Living Wage Law.
4. The appeal from the order approving the form and publication of class-action notice was dismissed as abandoned.

Questions Presented

1. Whether plaintiffs satisfied the requirements for class certification under CPLR 901 and 902.
2. Whether plaintiffs' proposed class claims were typical, supported by common questions that predominated, and properly treated as a class action despite the need for discovery and litigation.
3. Whether plaintiffs should be granted leave to amend the complaint to add a claim under New York City's Living Wage Law.
4. Whether the appeal from the order approving the form and publication of class-action notice should be dismissed as abandoned.

Disposition

affirmed