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| Evelyn Coke |
Five years ago today, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled against home care worker Evelyn Coke when she claimed entitlement to protection under the federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). The anniversary of that decision is a reminder that home care workers cannot wait any longer for this long-overdue right.
Ms. Coke, a Jamaican immigrant who had worked for 20 years as a home care aide in New York City, was suing for years' worth of back pay for overtime hours she had booked at her regular hourly rate. On June 11, 2007, the court ruled against Ms. Coke, but it left the door open to change, noting that either Congress or the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) could extend FLSA protections to home care workers. DOL walked through that door last December.
Home care worker and Direct Care Alliance (DCA) Board Chair Tracy Dudzinski stood behind President Obama when he announced DOL's proposed rule on December 15. "The President talked about how we home care workers had waited long enough for this day, and he was right," says Dudzinski. "We deserve the same basic rights as other American workers."
Evelyn Coke passed away before her battle was won, but her fellow home care workers and their allies are keeping the fight alive. We are collecting signatures on
a petition urging DOL and the White House to enact the rule now.
Sign our petition today.
Download a longer version of this release as a pdf.
