Long Beach home care company will pay nearly $100,000 to settle lawsuit over pay data, state says

Cambrian Homecare, a Long Beach-based health services company, has agreed to pay nearly $100,000 to settle a lawsuit alleging it failed to comply with a pay-transparency law meant to ensure employees are treated equitably, the California Civil Rights Department announced Monday.

The lawsuit, which the Civil Rights Department filed in July, alleged that Cambrian Homecare, from 2021 to 2023, did not file legally mandated pay and transparency reports despite repeated warnings by state officials.

Those reports are required by SB 973, which Gov. Gavin Newsom signed in 2020, mandating that private employers with 100 or more employees report pay, demographic and other workforce data to the state each year in an effort to combat discrimination and gender or racial wage gaps.

“In passing the law, the Legislature recognized that, despite significant progress in California to strengthen equal pay laws, the gender pay gap persists, resulting in billions of dollars in lost wages,” the Civil Rights Department said in a statement.

Data collected under the law showed in 2021 that women and communities of color in California remain among the state’s lowest-paid workers despite making up a large concentration of the state’s workforce, according to the Civil Rights Department.

As part of the settlement, Cambrian Homecare will have to pay $70,000 in penalties and $24,778 to cover costs and fees associated with the litigation, the Civil Rights Department said. The company will also be required to file all future pay data reports each year.

“This settlement makes it clear that we will hold companies accountable for failing to comply with California’s pay data reporting requirements,” Civil Rights Department Director Kevin Kish said in a prepared statement. “I urge employers across the state to do their part, review their own pay data, and take action to ensure all employees are treated equitably. Everyone is entitled to equal pay for equal work.”

Cambrian Homecare, which is headquartered in Long Beach and operates multiple locations across Southern and Northern California counties, employs more than 2,000 people, officials said.

The company did not immediately respond to a request for comment from the Long Beach Post.