Ambulnz Lawsuit: Data Breach, Securities Fraud, and Wage Claims

The Ambulnz lawsuit landscape spans five distinct disputes: a 2024 data breach class action that settled for $230,000, a securities fraud class action tied to the company’s New York City migrant services contract that settled for $12.5 million, a pandemic-era wage suit brought by out-of-state EMTs, an employment discrimination case that was dismissed and is now on appeal, and a regulatory challenge over ambulance licensing in Westchester County. Ambulnz operates today under the name DocGo after a 2021 SPAC merger.

Data Breach Class Action and Settlement

In or around April 2024, Ambulnz NY, LLC experienced a cybersecurity incident that potentially exposed personally identifiable information and personal health information to unauthorized third parties.¹ The company did not publicly disclose how many people were affected, though settlement documents indicate some records involved Social Security numbers or driver’s license information.²

The resulting class action, Maria Ballesteros v. Ambulnz NY, LLC (Case No. 2025-005051-CA-01), was filed in the Circuit Court of the Eleventh Judicial Circuit in Miami-Dade County, Florida. Ambulnz denied liability but agreed to a $230,000 settlement.³

Class members could choose from several benefit options:

One year of credit monitoring and identity protection services, including $1,000,000 in identity theft insurance.
Up to $400 per person for documented ordinary out-of-pocket expenses caused by the breach.
Reimbursement for lost time at $18.50 per hour for up to four hours, a maximum of $74.
Up to $4,500 per person for documented extraordinary, unreimbursed monetary losses tied directly to the breach.
An alternative flat cash payment of $30 if the claimant’s Social Security or driver’s license number was involved, or $10 if not, taken in lieu of all other benefits.

The claims deadline was September 15, 2025. The court granted final approval and class payments were disbursed on March 3, 2026.¹ Ambulnz also agreed not to oppose attorneys’ fees and expenses up to $230,000 and a service award of up to $2,000 for the class representative.⁴

Securities Fraud Case and the NYC Migrant Contract

The larger legal exposure grew out of a no-bid $432 million emergency contract that New York City awarded in May 2023. Under it, DocGo (through subsidiary Rapid Reliable Testing NY LLC) was hired to provide housing, medical care, transportation, and security for newly arrived asylum seekers.⁵

On October 27, 2023, shareholders filed a securities fraud class action in the Southern District of New York, Naclerio v. DocGo Inc. (Case No. 23-cv-09476), before Judge Katherine Polk Failla. The complaint alleged DocGo and certain executives made false and misleading statements about the company’s operations, its executive vetting processes, and its capacity to deliver on the migrant contract.⁵

In March 2025, Judge Failla ruled on the motion to dismiss. Two categories of claims survived: statements about CEO Anthony “Al” Capone’s academic credentials, and statements about enrolling migrants in Medicaid through UnitedHealthcare. The court found it plausible that a reasonable investor would view Capone’s fabricated master’s degree as material because he had tied those credentials to DocGo’s technology and artificial intelligence capabilities. Claims against co-founder Stan Vashovsky and executive Andre Oberholzer were dismissed entirely, along with a set of claims about the company’s contract backlog that the court deemed puffery.⁶

The parties reached a $12.5 million settlement covering investors who purchased DocGo common stock between November 5, 2021, and September 15, 2023. The court granted final approval on March 24, 2026, and payments were distributed pro rata based on the number of valid claims and the volume, timing, and prices of each claimant’s share purchases.⁷

The Credential Fraud Behind the Case

In August 2023, the Albany Times-Union reported that Capone had falsely claimed to hold a master’s degree in computer science from Clarkson University. The university confirmed he had never attended, and his claimed undergraduate degree from SUNY Potsdam was also unverified. Capone had worked at the company since 2017, and in nearly six years no one had checked his credentials. He resigned on September 15, 2023, citing “personal reasons.” Lee Bienstock, who had joined DocGo from Google in 2022 as president and COO, replaced him as CEO.⁸

The Comptroller Audit and Attorney General Inquiry

New York City Comptroller Brad Lander announced a real-time audit of the contract in September 2023, citing “serious concerns about the selection of this vendor and its performance of contract duties.”⁹ The audit’s August 2024 findings reported that nearly 80 percent of the $13.8 million paid to DocGo in the contract’s first two months was either unsupported or unallowable. Auditors flagged $2 million in overpayments for unauthorized security services, $1.7 million paid for nearly 10,000 unused hotel room nights, and over $400,000 in commissions DocGo collected on those empty rooms.¹⁰

DocGo had used 41 subcontractors during the audited period but submitted only 12 for city approval, and the Department of Housing Preservation and Development approved none. Site inspections found health and safety issues in 80 percent of rooms examined, including mold, water damage, and pests, and 65 percent of surveyed rooms lacked basic appliances like refrigerators or microwaves. The company also failed to meet contractually required staffing ratios for caseworkers and social workers. The Comptroller recommended recouping $4.7 million in unallowable expenses and verifying or recouping another $6.3 million. The city did not renew the contract and issued a zero-dollar extension to transition asylum seekers out of DocGo’s upstate facilities through December 2024.¹⁰

Separately, the office of New York State Attorney General Letitia James opened an investigation into DocGo’s treatment of migrants in its care, examining reports that the company provided inaccurate employment information, used threats, took actions that could jeopardize asylum claims, and enrolled migrants in healthcare plans for which they were ineligible. DocGo said it would cooperate.¹¹

Pandemic Wage Class Action

In June 2020, EMTs and paramedics from outside New York filed a class action in Brooklyn state court against Ambulnz over pay during the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic. Tennessee EMT James Richard served as the lead plaintiff. Ambulnz had been subcontracted by FEMA to bring in out-of-state first responders for the New York City surge.¹²

The workers alleged they had been promised pay for 24 hours a day, seven days a week, because they were required to remain on call around the clock, but that Ambulnz paid them only for hours spent actively responding to calls, amounting to seven 12-hour shifts per week. They also alleged the company confined them to hotel rooms when off-shift, monitored them with security guards and GPS-equipped phones, and threatened discipline or termination for leaving.¹³

Ambulnz denied the allegations, saying it never hired security guards, never restricted off-shift movement, and did not use GPS devices. The company said two independent labor law firms had reviewed its payroll practices and confirmed they exceeded legal requirements, and it produced signed employee statements supporting its position.¹³ The defendants moved to compel arbitration. In an April 2021 order, the court held the motion in abeyance and scheduled an evidentiary hearing to determine whether the EMTs qualified for an exemption to the Federal Arbitration Act as workers engaged in interstate commerce.¹⁴ The available record does not reflect a final resolution.

Freckleton Employment Discrimination Suit

Malvia M. Freckleton, a former Ambulnz EMT, filed a federal employment discrimination lawsuit in the Eastern District of New York in 2021. Freckleton, an African American woman who was 49 at the time, alleged a hostile work environment, harassment, pay reductions, and retaliation after she complained about working conditions. She brought claims under Title VII, the Americans with Disabilities Act, the Age Discrimination in Employment Act, and the Equal Pay Act.¹⁵

In September 2022, Judge Ann M. Donnelly granted the defense motion to dismiss in part and denied it in part, letting some claims proceed. Those surviving claims did not ultimately succeed. On September 19, 2025, Judge Donnelly granted Ambulnz’s motion for summary judgment and dismissed the case. Freckleton filed a notice of appeal and was granted leave to proceed without paying court fees. The appeal was pending as of the most recent available filings.¹⁶

Westchester Ambulance Licensing Challenge

Ambulnz NY 2, LLC and several other county-wide ambulance operators challenged a decision by the New York State Emergency Medical Services Council to grant expanded operating certificates to two volunteer ambulance corps, the Ossining Volunteer Ambulance Corps and the Scarsdale Volunteer Ambulance Corps. The petitioners argued the approvals were arbitrary and lacked factual support, and that the volunteer corps had applied to provide community paramedicine services rather than traditional ambulance services.¹⁷

In October 2024, the Supreme Court in Albany County denied the petition, finding the operators lacked standing because their only claimed injury was competitive and economic, which fell outside the zone of interests public health law was designed to protect. The court added that even if standing existed, the expansion was supported by evidence of a genuine ambulance crisis in Westchester County, including heavy reliance on mutual aid and the collapse of a former county-wide provider.¹⁷ On June 11, 2026, the Appellate Division, Third Department, affirmed, agreeing the state council’s decision had a rational basis and was neither arbitrary nor capricious.¹⁸

1
Ambulnz Settlement. Ballesteros v. Ambulnz Settlement
2
HIPAA Journal. DocGo Cyberattack
3
ClaimDepot. Ambulnz Settlement
4
Ambulnz Settlement. Ballesteros v. Ambulnz Settlement FAQ
5
Bloomberg Law. DocGo Allegedly Misled Public Before Migrant Relocation Effort
6
FindLaw. Genesee County Employees’ Retirement System v. DocGo Inc.
7
Kessler Topaz Meltzer & Check. DocGo Inc. Securities Fraud Class Action
8
TelecareAware. Could DocGo Be Another Babylon Health or Theranos
9
Stanford Law School Securities Class Action Clearinghouse. DocGo Inc. Securities Litigation
10
NYC Comptroller. Mismanagement of DocGo Contract by Adams Admin Wasted Millions
11
The New York Times. NYC Migrants DocGo Investigation
12
Tennessee Lookout. Murfreesboro EMT Who Helped With NYC Pandemic Response Sues for Lost Wages
13
EMS1. EMS Providers Deployed for Pandemic Response Sue FEMA Subcontractor
14
New York Courts. Richard v. Ambulnz Health LLC
15
vLex. Freckleton v. Ambulnz NY LLC
16
PACER Monitor. Freckleton v. Ambulnz NY LLC
17
Justia. Ambulnz NY 2 LLC v. New York State Emergency Med. Servs. Council
18
New York Courts. Matter of Ambulnz NY 2 LLC v. New York State Emergency Med. Servs. Council