A federal jury convicted the nurse staffing owner of Kirpal Nurses dba Kind Hearts for not paying $500,000 in federal employment taxes last week.  The nurse staffing agency owner, Francis LeRoy McLain of Livingston, MT, supplies temporary nurses to nursing homes and other healthcare facilities.  (Some other companies McLain has operated since 1987 include: Lifelines Care Inc., Lifelines Cooperative Care Inc. and Cooperative Nurses Inc.).

McLain sued the U.S. in 1995, claiming his nurses were independent contractors rather than employees, and then the U.S. countersued, and the suits were settled in 1998 with McLain agreeing to withhold pay over employment taxes for nurses who worked for his businesses.  However, nonpayment of employment taxes still continued, as reported by the U.S. Attorney’s Office’s Minnesota district.