DC Attorney General Sues Childcare Center Over Alleged Wage Theft
Lawsuit Alleges Little Samaritan Stole Wages from Six Workers When Owner Abruptly Shuttered the Center
WASHINGTON, DC – Attorney General Brian L. Schwalb today announced a wage theft lawsuit against Little Swalih Education Center Inc., formerly known as Little Samaritan Child Development Center, Inc. (Little Samaritan), a defunct childcare center, and its owner and CEO, Ode H. Hines. The lawsuit filed by the Office of the Attorney General (OAG) alleges that Little Samaritan and Hines, after Hines closed the center permanently and without notice in 2024, failed to pay six childcare workers the wages they had earned. The lawsuit is seeking to recover the nearly $15,000 in wages owed to the workers as well as damages and penalties for violating DC’s wage and hour laws.
“We will continue to aggressively enforce our wage and hour laws to ensure childcare workers get paid every dollar that they have earned. If childcare workers in DC fear that they might have their wages stolen, DC families will have fewer and more expensive childcare options,” said Attorney General Schwalb. “When a business terminates workers, it is required by DC law to pay those workers the wages they are owed by the very next working day. We won’t let any company pocket the money that their hard-working employees have earned.”
Little Samaritan was a childcare center located at 5100 E Street SE in Ward 7. The center provided childcare and child development services for children age six weeks through 12 years old. As of 2024, Little Samaritan employed at least six workers. The founder and owner of the childcare center was Ode H. Hines, who also served as CEO and Chair of the Board of Directors.
On July 26, 2024, Hines permanently closed Little Samaritan without advance notice to employees or parents. Employees discovered the closure when they arrived for work to find that the locks for the facility had been changed and they could no longer get inside. That day, Little Samaritan paid employees for the pay period spanning July 1 to July 15, 2024. Employees were never paid for the work they did from July 16 through the daycare’s sudden closure, nor for showing up to work as scheduled on July 26.
OAG filed a lawsuit alleging that Little Samaritan and Hines violated DC law by:
Stealing $15,000 in wages from six daycare workers. Little Samaritan never paid its six workers the wages they earned during their final pay period before the daycare closed, or for showing up to work on the day the daycare closed. Under DC law, employers must pay all wages earned, including paying workers for at least four hours of work if they report to work but are sent home.
Failing to pay accrued annual leave. Under DC law, employers must pay out workers’ accrued annual leave upon termination, unless there is an express agreement to the contrary. Little Samaritan failed to compensate employees for the paid annual leave they had accrued before they were terminated.
Failing to pay wages earned in a timely fashion after termination. Under DC law, employers must pay employees’ wages no later than the working day following a termination.
With this lawsuit, OAG is seeking to recover wages and damages for the harmed workers, as well as penalties for violating District law.
OAG’s complaint is available here.
This matter is being handled by Assistant Attorneys General Beth Feldstein, Keely Magyar, and Molly Keck; former Assistant Attorney General Tascha Shahriari-Parsa; Investigator Kenithia Alston; Paralegal Specialist Diego Pereira; Assistant Section Chief Dennis A. Corkery; and Section Chief Graham Lake.