A Portland law firm has filed a lawsuit against an Auburn firm it claims owes millions of dollars to more than 500 social workers and mental health providers across Maine.
Preti Flaherty filed the suit against Possibilities Counseling Services in Cumberland County Superior Court on Monday on behalf of two Portland-based social workers, John Thibodeau and Maryann Carroll.
Attorney Greg Hansel said the intention is to make this a class-action suit, but that a judge must certify it as such before other providers can join.
A similar suit has been filed in Androscoggin Superior Court against the same company by the Portland law firm of Taylor, McCormack and Frame. About 100 social workers are named as plaintiffs in that suit.
“We see this as the first step in recovering money that is owed to so many of Maine’s health providers,” said Thibodeau.
Possibilities, Inc. offers independent health providers, such as social workers, a service that coordinates payments made by third parties, such as Maine- Care and Medicare.
Over the course of two years, checks to social workers and mental health providers from Possibilities were delayed or were for less than the workers were owed, the suits allege.
“You’ve got 550 hard working mental health workers who have not been paid for their services,” Hansel said.
Adam Taylor, the attorney involved in the Androscoggin lawsuit, said the delayed payments from Possibilities have “caused significant hardships for our clients “
The attorneys say their clients are owed up to $3 million in all.
John Geismar, the Lewiston attorney representing Possibilities, said being able to deal with lawyers for the plaintiffs will be more efficient than having to field calls from dozens of concerned workers.
“We’ve done our best to collect the information and to assure these folks that we will pay them as soon as we are paid (by the state),” Geismar said.
Hansel and Taylor said that once a judge has certified their suit as a class-action filing, other affected workers can join in.
Staff Writer Dennis Hoey can be contacted at 791-6365 or at: dhoey@pressherald.com
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