By Michele Malloy In yet another example of courts’ increasing hostility toward broad boilerplate complaints in Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) collective actions, in Sampson v. Medisys Health Network a Magistrate Judge in the Eastern District of New York recommended dismissal with prejudice of an FLSA collective action. The court found that despite the length… Continue Reading
Category Archives: Class Actions
Subscribe to Class Actions RSS Feed$2 Million Settlement in Race Discrimination Class Action Against Hospital by Job Applicants
By Ryan Eddings Last week, in Meeks v. Allen Memorial Hospital, a state court in Iowa approved a $2 million settlement in a race discrimination class action against an Iowa hospital. This case is yet another reminder that health care employers must consider both federal and state laws when assessing their employment practices. The named plaintiff in… Continue Reading
Two More FLSA Collective Actions Against Hospitals Decertified
By Breanne Sheetz Two more cases have been added to the growing list of FLSA collective actions against large healthcare systems that have been either decertified or denied certification, granting the holiday wishes of two major healthcare systems in Pennsylvania. In Kuznyetsov v. West Penn Allegheny Health System, Inc., Judge Ambrose of the U.S. District Court… Continue Reading
Court Limits Scope of FLSA Collective Action to Single Hospital in Nationwide Healthcare System
By Michele Malloy Although the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois conditionally certified a class of Utilization Review Case Managers who claimed they were misclassified as exempt employees, the court in Babych v. Psychiatric Solutions, Inc. et al. limited the class to employees at a single facility in Streamwood, Illinois where the… Continue Reading
Supreme Court to Decide Whether Pharmaceutical Sales Representatives are Exempt From FLSA Overtime Requirements
The U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to resolve in Christopher v. SmithKline Beecham Corp. (11-204) whether the Fair Labor Standards Act’s outside sales exemption applies to pharmaceutical sales representatives (PSRs). The Court also will consider whether deference is owed to the Secretary of Labor’s own interpretation of the FLSA exemption and related regulations. At stake… Continue Reading
Another District Court Dismisses FLSA, ERISA and RICO Claims in Hospital Class Action
By David Goldstein In welcome news for hospital employers, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania recently dismissed FLSA, ERISA, and RICO claims in six related putative class and collective actions brought against hospital systems and affiliated entities in the Philadelphia area on behalf of a potential class of thousands of employees… Continue Reading
Healthcare Class Actions Post-Dukes
By Rob Wolff Nearly 2,000 collective actions under the FLSA were filed in the federal courts in 2010, many against healthcare providers. In most instances, courts have applied a lenient standard to “conditionally certify” these cases, allowing them to proceed as collective actions. The landmark Supreme Court decision in Dukes v. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. may,… Continue Reading
First Circuit Denies Hospital’s LMRA Preemption Argument Because Named Plaintiffs’ Union Membership Unclear
By Michele Malloy For employers facing the seemingly endless onslaught of wage and hour class actions, evaluating the likelihood of early dismissal is critical. One possible basis for dismissing wage and hour claims is preemption by the Labor Management Relations Act (LMRA). LMRA preempts state law claims when a court must interpret the terms of a… Continue Reading
Court Decertifies Class in Auto-Deduct Meal Break Case Against Hospital
By Michele Malloy and Alex Frondorf There is good news for hospital employers in one of the many recent FLSA collective actions brought against a hospital asserting claims for time allegedly worked during meal periods that were automatically deducted from pay. In White v. Baptist Memorial Health Care Corp., a federal district court in Tennessee decertified a… Continue Reading
University of Pittsburgh Medical Center Defeats Class Certification in ADA Case
By Michele Malloy In a victory for University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC), a Pennsylvania federal court rejected certification of a proposed class finding that the Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA) claims were too individualized for class treatment. After years of procedural maneuvers, in Chedwick v. UPMC, the court ruled that, because the plaintiff was… Continue Reading
California Court of Appeal: Employers Must Simply Make Meal Periods Available To Employees, Not Ensure They Are Taken
In the same week that one California court held that employees are entitled to two hours pay for any day in which they did not receive required meal and rest breaks, employers received welcome news from another California appellate court, which found employers do not have to ensure employees receive their meal breaks to avoid… Continue Reading
Ninth Circuit Issues Strong Rebuke to Department of Labor, Upholds Outside Sales Exemption for Pharmaceutical Sales Representatives
In Christopher v. SmithKline Beecham, the Ninth Circuit issued a strong rebuke to the Department of Labor (and cemented a circuit split) in a remarkable decision upholding the “outside sales” exemption for Pharmaceutical Sales Representatives. To learn more about the decision and its implications for employers, please continue reading at Littler’s Wage & Hour Counsel blog.
New York Federal Court Dismisses Wage/Hour and RICO Claims Against Hospital
In a very favorable decision for healthcare employers facing the onslaught of wage and hour class and collective actions, in Wolman v. Catholic Health System of Long Island, a federal district court in New York dismissed the plaintiffs’ Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) claims for failure to provide sufficient facts to state a claim, and… Continue Reading
Court Applies Hospital Overtime Exemption and Dismisses State Law Claims in Hospital Class Action
In a significant victory for Massachusetts healthcare employers, on December 20, 2010, the Massachusetts federal court applied the state overtime exemption available to hospitals, nursing homes, and certain other healthcare employers, and dismissed all 13 state wage-law claims in Cavallaro v.UMass Memorial Health Care. Plaintiffs in the case, a class action filed on behalf of… Continue Reading
Kaiser Settles Misclassification Class Action for $2.91 Million
A California federal court gave final approval to a $2.91 million settlement between Kaiser Foundation Hospitals and approximately 500 information technology employees in Smith v. Kaiser Foundation Hospitals, Inc. The settlement amount includes the settlement fund for class members’ claims, payments under California’s Private Attorney General Act (PAGA), attorneys’ fees, costs, and enhancement awards for the… Continue Reading
Security Guards File Overtime Class Action Against Hospital
A former security guard at New York-Presbyterian Hospital has filed a class and collective action against the hospital claiming that it violated the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) and New York Labor Law by not paying security guards for overtime hours worked. In Mark vs. the New York and Presbyterian Hospital, the plaintiff alleges that… Continue Reading
Nurses Union Files Class Actions Against Hospitals for Missed Breaks
The Washington Nurses Association has filed class actions against four hospitals in Washington state, Evergreen Hospital Medical Center, Good Samaritan Hospital, Providence Holy Family Hospital, and Tacoma General Hospital, alleging that the hospitals failed to provide nurses with the meal and rest breaks required by state law and, in some cases, collective bargaining agreements. The… Continue Reading
Misclassification Class Action Settles for $2.6 Million
On October 18, 2010, Baxter Healthcare Corporation became the latest healthcare employer to settle a wage and hour class action. Ten months after a group of California lab technicians sued Baxter, alleging they were improperly classified as exempt employees, the case settled for $2.6 million. After fees, costs and other administrative expenses are paid out,… Continue Reading
Automatic Meal-Break Class Action Against Hospital Dismissed, Preempted by LMRA
In a significant defeat for plaintiffs’ class action firms bringing wage and hour class cases against unionized healthcare institutions, a Massachusetts federal judge dismissed a wage and hour class action against Caritas Christi Health Care System on the grounds that the claims were preempted by the Labor Management Relations Act (LMRA). This decision is particularly… Continue Reading
$50 Million Settlement of Class Action Alleging Understaffing by California Nursing Home Operator
In another illustration of the risk and proliferation of class action lawsuits against healthcare employers, Skilled Healthcare Group, Inc. has agreed to pay $50 million to settle a claim alleging understaffing at its facilities. Skilled Healthcare Group operates 22 assisted-living facilities in California. State law requires such facilities maintain staffing levels of 3.2 nursing hours… Continue Reading
Automatic Meal Deduction Case Survives Motion to Dismiss
In the most recent decision in the rash of wage and hour class and collective actions against healthcare employers relating to the “automatic deduction” of meal periods from pay, the U.S. District Court for the Central District of Illinois has denied a nursing home’s motion to dismiss the complaint. In Chastity L. King v. Heritage… Continue Reading
ADA Class Action Challenges Hospital’s Return-to-Work Policies
Hospitals are not immune from lawsuits by employees asserting violations of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). On August 25, 2010, the Baltimore Washington Medical Center, Inc (“BWMC”) was hit with an ADA class action complaint challenging BWMC’s return-to-work policies. Specifically, Atkinson-Bush v. Baltimore Washington Medical Center, Inc., filed in federal court in Maryland, alleges… Continue Reading
Court Grants Summary Judgment to Hospital in Automatic Meal-Deduction Class Action
In the maelstrom of class actions against hospitals for work allegedly performed during meal periods automatically deducted from pay, a ray of sunshine recently emerged as a federal district court granted summary judgment to a hospital. In Haviland v. Catholic Health Initiatives-Iowa, Corp., current and former security guards at three Mercy hospital locations in Iowa… Continue Reading
Court Limits Proposed Class in Automatic Meal-Break Deduction Case Against Hospital
By narrowing the scope of the proposed class, in Moss v. Putnam County Hospital (pdf), a federal district court in Indiana appears to have eliminated broad-based collective action claims regarding work allegedly performed by hospital employees during meal periods automatically deducted from their pay. The plaintiff employees alleged Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) violations against… Continue Reading