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Jury convicts nurse staffing firm operator

November 20, 2008

The operator of a nurse staffing firm was convicted by a federal jury this week for not paying more than $500,000 in federal employment taxes, the U.S. Attorney's Office's Minnesota district reported. The operator, Francis Leroy McLain of Livingston MT, operated Kirpal Nurses which did business as Kind Hearts. It was based in Minneapolis and supplied nurses to nursing homes and healthcare facilities.

The U.S. Attorney's Office said McLain has operated several other nurse staffing companies since 1987, including Lifelines Care Inc., Lifelines Cooperative Care Inc. and Cooperative Nurses Inc.

McLain sued the U.S. in 1995 claiming the nurses who worked for him were independent contractors rather than employees, according to the office. 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 continued, according to the office.