Law360 Reports on Health Care Worker’s Stay-or-Pay Lawsuit Against Chesapeake Health Care
Law360 reported on the lawsuit that Murphy Anderson filed against Chesapeake Health Care on behalf of Christie N. Fils, a former interpreter and community health worker.
The article describes Ms. Fils’s allegations that Chesapeake required her to sign a stay-or-pay agreement before enrolling her in a community health worker certification course. The agreement required her to repay the $1,400 course cost if she left her job within a year. It also purported to waive her right to contest the debt in court. According to the complaint, Chesapeake fired Ms. Fils for attending her community college final exams, called it a voluntary resignation, and then deducted her entire net pay from her final paycheck.
Ms. Fils brings minimum wage and unlawful deduction claims under federal and Maryland law. She also seeks a declaration that the stay-or-pay agreement is void for her and every other employee who signed it.
Murphy Anderson attorney Mark Hanna told Law360, “Low-wage workers should never owe their employers money when they leave their jobs. Coercive stay-or-pay agreements use debt to keep workers from taking better jobs. Training that mainly benefits the employer shouldn’t trap workers in debt to that employer. A form can’t waive workers’ wage rights, and an employer can’t take a worker’s wages without her written authorization.”
Mark Hanna represents Ms. Fils, with assistance from George R. Murphy Fellow Nicky Downs. The case is Fils v. Three Lower Counties Community Services, Inc., No. 1:26-cv-04379, in the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland.