Attorney General urges broader enforcement power in bid to curb wage theft and misclassification

Attorney General Anthony Brown urged the House Economic Matters Committee on Feb. 26 to give his office new authority to pursue wage theft and worker misclassification across all industries through House Bill 1096, the Prevention and Worker Protections Act.

"This bill is about fairness," Brown said in opening remarks, explaining the measure would expand the state's Workplace Fraud Act beyond construction and landscaping and create a worker protection unit in the Attorney General's Office. He cited a recent District of Columbia enforcement action that returned $3,750,000 to harmed construction workers as an example of the kind of impact he said Maryland could achieve.

The bill, as described by Assistant Attorney General Heather Heilman, would permit the Attorney General to bring actions to enforce the Workplace Fraud Act and related statutes including the Maryland Wage and Hour Law, the Wage Payment and Collection Law and the Prevailing Wage Law. Heilman said the measure "creates liability for general contractors, higher level contractors and successors," increases penalties, adds licensing and debarment consequences for violators and authorizes litigation as an enforcement tool.

Supporters at the hearing included unions, legal-aid groups and worker-advocacy organizations. Megan McDermott of Maryland Legal Aid said low-income workers are "especially vulnerable to workplace fraud, wage theft, and poor working conditions," and urged the committee to advance the bill. Labor and construction unions said they back the provision that would hold general contractors responsible when subcontractors misclassify workers or steal wages.

Business groups and gig platforms opposed parts of the bill. Representatives from DoorDash and Uber warned it could reclassify thousands of independent contractors and reduce flexibility for couriers and drivers; DoorDash told the committee that roughly 220,000 Marylanders dash on its platform and that 91% of dashers prefer the flexibility of platform work. The Maryland Chamber and construction trade groups raised concerns about joint and successor liability and about removing the existing safe-harbor affidavit that contractors can use to show a subcontractor maintains payroll taxes, unemployment insurance and required licenses.

Committee members pressed several technical and constitutional issues. Chair Wilson and others questioned the bill's language on investigatory authority, including provisions on administrative inspections and potential penalties for "hindering" an investigation. Brown, Heilman and a former labor secretary on the panel, Leonard Howie, said the office would follow existing legal limits, obtain judicial authorization where required and work with the Department of Labor to clarify coordination and avoid duplicative enforcement. Secretary Portia Wu of the Maryland Department of Labor testified informationally and said the department supports stronger tools but warned that concurrent enforcement powers could produce inconsistent outcomes if not carefully coordinated.

Brown told the committee the Attorney General's Office is complaint-driven and said it was not requesting new staff immediately, but would seek resources if the authority is granted and additional funding is available in the future. Brown and supporters said the bill could be refined in amendments and urged the committee to advance the measure to allow further negotiations.

The committee did not vote during the hearing. Members said they expected additional stakeholder meetings and possible amendments to address concerns on warrantless searches, the scope of general-contractor liability, protections for small subcontractors and how private litigation and attorney-fee recovery would operate under an expanded public enforcement role.

Ending: The bill generated extensive testimony from labor groups, unions, legal-aid advocates, business associations and platform companies. Supporters emphasized worker restitution and stronger enforcement; opponents warned of unintended consequences for small contractors and platform workers. Committee members asked for clarifying language and signaled willingness to negotiate amendments before any final action.