Foster v. Americare Healthcare Services, Inc., 150 F. Supp. 3d 868

Foster worked as a home health/personal care aide for Americare from 2005 until resigning in May 2013; Americare provided services funded largely by Medicare/Medicaid.
Foster sued asserting unpaid minimum-wage and overtime claims under the FLSA, plus state-law wage claims; defendants moved for summary judgment.
Key factual disputes included whether Foster was paid for all hours worked and whether she performed more than 20% "general household" work (non-client-care) that would defeat the companionship-services exemption.
Foster submitted a declaration; defendants sought to strike portions as contradicting deposition testimony. The court struck one paragraph (about unpaid hours) but kept others about household work and extra services.
The parties agreed Foster provided companionship/homecare services; the legal question was whether enough of her time was spent on non-care household work to remove the exemption.
The court found Foster’s testified tasks (meal prep, cleaning, laundry, errands) were work related to client care and that she failed to show over 20% of time was general household work; federal claims under the FLSA were dismissed on summary judgment and state-law claims were dismissed without prejudice for lack of supplemental jurisdiction.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether portions of Foster’s post-deposition declaration should be disregarded as sham affidavit	Declaration reflects factual details (unpaid hours; household work) creating genuine issues	Declaration contradicts deposition on unpaid hours and scope of work; those parts should be stricken	Court struck Paragraph 4 (unpaid hours) as directly contradictory; denied request as to Paragraphs 8–9 after reading whole deposition
Whether Foster is entitled to minimum-wage recovery under FLSA (companionship services exemption)	Foster says she performed >20% general household work unrelated to client care, so exemption doesn’t apply	Americare says tasks were client-related companionship services; exemption applies	Court held Foster failed to show >20% general household work; exemption applies and FLSA minimum-wage claim dismissed
Whether Foster is entitled to overtime under FLSA	Same as above: overtime exempt only if companionship exemption inapplicable	Americare invokes companionship-services exemption (29 U.S.C. § 213(a)(15), 29 C.F.R. § 552.6)	Court held exemption applies; overtime claim dismissed on summary judgment
Disposition of state-law wage claims (Ohio Constitution, MFWSA, Prompt Payment Act)	Plaintiff sought to pursue these if federal claims survive	Defendants argued for dismissal if federal claims are dismissed	Court declined supplemental jurisdiction and dismissed state claims without prejudice to refiling in state court

Reid v. Sears, Roebuck & Co., 790 F.2d 453 (6th Cir.) (post-deposition affidavit may be stricken if it contradicts earlier sworn testimony)
Aerel S.R.L. v. PCC Airfoils, L.L.C., 448 F.3d 899 (6th Cir.) (framework for evaluating post-deposition affidavits at summary judgment)
Celotex Corp. v. Catrett, 477 U.S. 317 (summary judgment burden-shifting principles)
Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242 (summary judgment standard; inferences to nonmovant)
Matsushita Elec. Indus. Co. v. Zenith Radio Corp., 475 U.S. 574 (genuine factual dispute requirement)
Long Island Care at Home, Ltd. v. Coke, 551 U.S. 158 (companion context: companionship-services exemption under FLSA)
Salyer v. Ohio Bureau of Workers’ Compensation, 83 F.3d 784 (6th Cir.) (household work related to care fits companionship exemption)
Herman v. Palo Group Foster Home, Inc., 183 F.3d 468 (6th Cir.) (burden shifting when employer records are incomplete under Anderson)
Anderson v. Mt. Clemens Pottery Co., 328 U.S. 680 (employee burden to prove uncompensated work; relaxed proof where employer records inadequate)
Brooks v. Rothe, 577 F.3d 701 (6th Cir.) (district court may dismiss state claims when federal claims are dismissed before trial)