Opinion ID: 1528460
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: The Plaintiffs' Cross-Appeal

Text: [¶ 12] The trial court held that, for the time period from February 23, 1995, when DHS was appointed public conservator, to April 5, 1995, when Clarence went in the nursing home, the caregivers were not entitled to the treble damages mandated by 26 M.R.S.A. § 626. The trial court determined that the unpaid wages for that period were recoverable only in quantum meruit. Apparently the court construed the public conservatorship as limiting the ability of Clarence to exercise control over the caregivers and therefore to be their employer for purposes of section 626. Nothing in the Probate Code, however, states that a person under a conservatorship cannot be an employer. Indeed, the Code suggests the opposite. See 18-A M.R.S.A. § 5-408(5) (1998) (An order . . . determining that a basis for the appointment of a conservator ... exists, has no effect on the capacity of the protected person.); Id. § 5-420, Unif. Prob.Code comment (Unlike a situation involving appointment of a guardian, the appointment of a conservator has no bearing on the capacity of the disabled person to contract or engage in other transactions.) [¶ 13] The appointment of DHS as Clarence's public conservator did not change the fact that he had the right to control the plaintiffs. If they were his employees before February 23, 1995, as the trial court found with ample support in the record, then they were his employees after that date as well. They were entitled to be paid on time and, because they were not, they are entitled to the remedies mandated by the Legislature in section 626. [1] [¶ 14] The trial court did not articulate its reasons for reducing the attorney fees requested by the plaintiffs by one-fourth. It is possible that the court made that reduction because of its erroneous conclusion that section 626 remedies are not applicable for the entire period in question. If the reduction was for this reason, on remand the court should re-examine reasonable attorney fees. The entry is: Judgment vacated. Remanded for further proceedings consistent with this opinion.