Plaintiffs & Public Partnerships LLC Seek Court Approval of Settlement in Class Action Case Involving CDPAP Personal Assistants

By PPL on June 24, 2026

New York, New York – Plaintiffs Philip Calderon, Farshad Pinchasi, Allison Fields, and Dana Folgar and Public Partnerships LLC announced that the Plaintiffs and Public Partnerships LLC have signed a proposed settlement agreement in a class action lawsuit Calderon v. Public Partnerships LLC. On June 23, 2026, the parties formally asked the Court to approve the settlement.

This class action was filed by Plaintiffs, who are represented by The Legal Aid Society and Katz Banks Kumin LLP in April 2025 in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York on behalf of home care workers in New York’s Consumer Directed Personal Assistance Program (CDPAP). The case is pending before U.S. District Judge Frederic Block and U.S. Magistrate Judge Lara K. Eshkenazi. The Plaintiffs are current and former personal assistants who provided services in CDPAP in New York City, Long Island, and/or Westchester County.

The Settlement provides the following, which will be distributed to approximately 200,000 downstate personal assistants:

  • Payments in general damages;
  • Payments in Wage Parity compensation previously allocated to the Minimum Essential Coverage (MEC) plan;
  • Payments of accrued paid time off (the PTO balances of Class Members will be reconciled to reflect this distribution);
  • A reserve fund; and
  • Any unspent funds allocated to the MEC plan after April 30, 2027.

CDPAP is a New York State Medicaid program that enables older adults and individuals with disabilities to direct their own care by selecting trusted caregivers. The program helps individuals remain safely and independently in the lower cost setting of their homes, often instead of expensive institutionalized care, while supporting personal dignity and quality of life.  As a result of action by the New York State Legislature, the program consolidated to a single statewide fiscal intermediary, Public Partnerships LLC, effective April 1, 2025.

The Court has scheduled a preliminary approval hearing on July 1, 2026. If the Settlement is preliminarily approved and a Settlement Class is certified, notice will be sent to class members. The settlement will not be final until after that notice period and final approval by the Court. This approval process will require a number of months to complete.

Public Partnerships made the following statements about the settlement:

Public Partnerships LLC continues to deny all allegations of wrongdoing and the resolution contains no admission of liability. Public Partnerships has entered this settlement to avoid the time and expense of ongoing litigation and focus on the crucial support it provides to the more than 700,000 consumers and caregivers they support across the country.

Consistent with applicable law and regulatory requirements, CDPAP also incorporates safeguards designed to ensure responsible stewardship of Medicaid resources through the prevention of fraud, waste, and abuse.

“Personal assistants show up every single day to care for some of the most vulnerable New Yorkers, people who strive to live with dignity in their own homes. Public Partnerships LLC exists to make that possible, and this resolution reflects our commitment to put the people we serve above everything else. Our mission has always been people first, and every decision made, including this one, reflects that commitment.  Public Partnerships LLC remains fully committed to the states we serve and to the consumers and personal assistants who depend on CDPAP, and every decision we make reflects that commitment,” said Miki Kapoor, CEO of Public Partnerships LLC.

Plaintiffs made the following statements about the settlement:

“I am thankful that we were able to come to a resolution to help home care workers like me,” said Plaintiff Philip Calderon. “This settlement will put money back into workers’ pockets and ensure we all can continue to provide a critical service to the hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers in the CDPAP program.”

 “The personal assistants in CDPAP provide essential care that allows tens of thousands of older and disabled New Yorkers to remain safely in their homes,” said Richard Blum, Staff Attorney in the Employment Law Unit at The Legal Aid Society. “This proposed settlement returns money to the workers. We are proud to stand with these caregivers.”

“Home care workers are the backbone of New York’s long-term care system,” said Hugh Baran of Katz Banks Kumin LLP. “This proposed settlement showcases the importance of New York’s Home Care Worker Wage Parity Act. We look forward to the Court’s review and approval of the settlement.”

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Plaintiffs are represented by Hugh Baran, Emma Walters, and Avi Kumin at Katz Banks Kumin LLP and Richard Blum, Rebekah Cook-Mack, Michael Diller, B. Franco Olshansky, Elizabeth Saylor, Belkys Garcia, and Rebecca Antar at The Legal Aid Society.

Public Partnerships LLC is represented by Roy Salins, Michael Goettig, and Matteo Taraborrelli at Davis Wright Tremaine LLP.

Media Contacts for Plaintiffs’ Counsel: Alex Bradley, bradley@katzbanks.com; Alejandra Lopez, AILopez@legal-aid.org

Media Contacts for Public Partnerships: publicpartnerships@berlinrosen.com