Plaintiffs v Kaleida Health and Catholic Health Systems
Kaleida, CHS Facing Class-Action Lawsuits
A federal judge certified class-action lawsuits against Kaleida Health and Catholic Health Systems, paving the way for potentially millions of dollars in judgments against Buffalos largest health care providers.
The suits, filed by Rochester-based Thomas & Solomon LLP on behalf of thousands of current and former employees, allege that both health-care systems failed to pay workers for time they worked assisting patients during what was scheduled meal periods. The suit alleges this practice was repeated in multiple facilities and impacted thousands of nurses, aides and therapists.
Nelson Thomas, a partner in the firm, said because of the scope of who is eligible to participate in the suit, exact numbers wont be known until current and former employees respond to notices being sent out, but he expects the number of plaintiffs to reach tens of thousands.
Nelson said his firm specializes in these types of cases and recently won a $9 million settlement against Strong Hospital in Rochester for similar infractions.
He said the suit was born from employees within both companies notifying his firm that these wage theft practices were occurring, prompting the lawsuit.
From here, current and former employees who may be eligible have 60 days to respond to court-approved notices regarding the class-action suit in order to be included. Nelson said he is confident both Kaleida and Catholic Health Systems violated the law and though he said cases like this can take several years to resolve, he predicted a multi-million dollar result for those employees impacted.
For more information please contact:
Thomas & Solomon LLP
693 East Avenue
Rochester, NY 14607
585.272.0540 (phone)
585.272.0574 (fax)
