A New Jersey state court has signed off on a $1.85 million settlement for roughly 575 Filipino nurses who said a staffing agency's contracts trapped them in their jobs — charging them tens of thousands of dollars if they quit before a three-year term was up.
Monmouth County Superior Court Judge Owen McCarthy granted final approval on October 7, 2026, closing out Cruz v. Towne Nursing Staff, Inc., et al., a class action filed by six lead plaintiffs: Jemarie Cruz, Mary Fober Ced, Alvin Javier, Shirley Anne Fajardo, Iñigo P. Espiritu, and Zaena Diamad. The case targeted Towne Nursing Staff and its affiliate, Towne Pediatric Homecare, which recruit nurses from the Philippines to work in U.S. homecare and pediatric settings.
The contract nurses say trapped them
The complaint alleged that nurses recruited through Towne signed three-year contracts requiring them to pay back large sums — in some cases tens of thousands of dollars — if they left without what the contract called "Good Reason." Plaintiffs said Towne went further than a standard repayment clause: the company pursued arbitration claims against departing nurses seeking "lost profits," on top of any actual costs Towne had covered to bring them to the U.S.
The suit also alleged violations of the federal Trafficking Victims Protection Act and the Fair Labor Standards Act, along with New Jersey and New York wage laws. Towne denied any wrongdoing, and the settlement includes no court finding of liability.
What changes under the settlement
Beyond the payout, the settlement rewrites how Towne can treat nurses who leave early. The company agreed to drop mandatory arbitration clauses, stop seeking "lost profits" damages, and remove most non-compete restrictions from its contracts going forward. More than 100 nurses who still owed money under the old early-exit terms will have that debt forgiven. For nurses who leave without "Good Reason" under the new terms, Towne can only recover its own documented, direct costs — not "lost profits."
The case was brought by attorneys at Katz Banks Kumin, Kakalec Law, and Leung Law, who represented the class.
I've worked alongside internationally recruited nurses for years, and the pattern here is familiar: a contract dressed up as a training investment that, as this lawsuit alleged, functions as a leash. If you're a foreign-trained nurse signing a multi-year staffing contract, read the early-termination clause before anything else — specifically whether it charges your actual relocation costs or something bigger dressed up as "damages." A fee tied to real, itemized costs is normal. A fee designed to make leaving unaffordable is the thing this lawsuit was about.
What happens next
Payments to class members are automatic, according to plaintiffs’ counsel; class members do not need to file anything.