Suit Against Second New Mexico DD Waiver Provider For Misclassifying and Underpaying Employees

Attorneys Seek Class Action Status in Lawsuit Brought By Employees of Company Providing Care Under a State and Federal Program for Developmentally Disabled New Mexicans

Lessons of Life, LLC, a New Mexico limited liability company doing business in Southern New
Mexico is listed as a defendant in a lawsuit brought by employees who provide direct care to Developmentally Disabled New Mexicans.

The lawsuit was filed in February in United States District Court in Las Cruces. (A copy of the amended complaint can be found at the end of this article.)

The employees named as plaintiffs in the lawsuit seek to bring other employees aboard as plaintiffs in a class action suit.

This would be at least the second lawsuit brought by employees who provide direct care to developmentally challenged New Mexicans, and may not be the last.

For at least the last few years, the state of New Mexico’s labor department, the Department of Workforce Solutions, appears to have turned its head the other way while other state agencies allowed the illegal practice.

The Health Care Authority and Department of Health looked on as the state’s Developmental Disabilities Supports Division embraced the practice of classifying employees as independent contractors in an apparent attempt to reduce costs to the state.

A similar lawsuit was brought against Quality Life Services, LLC, in 2023, and later settled with its employees paying them more than $1 million in lost overtime.

The Candle reported on this practice of misclassification of employees in 2023, and 2024, warning of the potential of additional lawsuits brought by employees who have been misclassified in their roles as direct care givers.

The new lawsuit, which has already been amended, states that there are at least forty to fifty, possibly more, employees that have been adversely affected by their misclassification and subsequently treated as independent contractors (also known as subcontractors) instead of properly being paid as employees with the rights of employees under New Mexico and federal labor laws.

According to records The Candle has received from the state of New Mexico, Lessons of Life actually had hundreds of direct care workers listed in filings as full-time subcontractors.

This is a developing story and will be followed with more detailed reporting soon.

PLAINTIFFS’ FIRST AMENDED COMPLAINT – CA No. 2:22-cv-579-GJF-GBW