WASHINGTON, D.C. — The District is going to court on behalf of six childcare workers in Washington who say they were never paid for their final days on the job before their Ward 7 center closed without warning.
Attorney General Brian Schwalb announced Thursday that his office has filed a wage theft suit against the former Little Samaritan Child Development Center, now registered as Little Swalih Education Center, and its owner and CEO, Ode Hines. The District wants to recover close to $15,000 in back pay, plus damages and penalties.
The center sat at 5100 E Street SE and cared for children from six weeks old up to age 12. According to the complaint, it shut for good on July 26, 2024, with no notice to staff or families. Workers learned of it when they showed up and found the locks had been changed.
The suit says employees received their check for the first half of July but nothing for July 16 onward, including the day they came in to find the doors locked. It also claims the center did not pay out accrued annual leave.
District law requires employers to pay everything owed by the next working day after a firing, and workers who report and are sent home must get at least four hours of pay.
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