Federal judge orders Mich. business owner arrested for ignoring court order

The owner of a Michigan senior home care services company could face prison for ignoring a court order to turn over pay records, officials said.

A federal judge in Detroit on Tuesday ordered Rosie Guthrie to be arrested and imprisoned if she continues to disobey a March court order to provide time and pay records from her company, Genesis Homecare Services LLC, to U.S. Department of Labor investigators.

The court has held Guthrie in contempt since Sept. 27 and assessed her $250 for every day she has refused to comply with the order, officials said.

"The court has ordered Rosie Guthrie confined until she complies with the court’s orders and produces the documents that will allow the department to complete its compliance review," Christine Heri, the Department of Labor's Regional Solicitor of Labor in Chicago, said in a statement. "Complying with administrative subpoenas issued by the department is not optional, and the department will pursue all avenues to enforce the law."

The department began investigating the company in 2022, officials said. They said the company provides services in Wayne, Oakland, and Macomb counties.

The arrest warrant said Guthrie's last known residence was in Clinton Township.

In November 2022, authorities filed a federal lawsuit to obtain Genesis Homecare's time and pay records after Guthrie and the company refused to comply with the department's repeated requests for them.

Michael Lazzeri, the department's Regional Wage and Hour Administrator in Chicago, said in a statement the investigation into Genesis Homecare Services is part of its broader focus on the home care staffing industry.

He also said the company may not have done anything illegal, but by ignoring the court's order to provide the agency with the requested records, she may have made things worse for herself.

"The opening of a Wage and Hour Division investigation does not mean we will find violations," he said. "By refusing to cooperate, Rosie Guthrie now faces imprisonment."

Officials with Guthrie's company did not immediately respond to a request for comment Tuesday.

cramirez@detroitnews.com

X: @CharlesERamirez