Hospital Workers v St. Joseph's Hospital Health Center and Crouse Hospital in Syracuse and Faxton-St. Luke's Healthcare
Hospital Workers Sue For Lunch Money
Thousands of employees at three hospitals could be owed millions in overtime pay for working through their lunch breaks, according to federal class action lawsuits. The hourly health care workers will soon get court-authorized notices in the mail said Patrick Solomon, a Rochester lawyer whose firm is handling the class actions.
The lawsuits filed in U.S. District Court in Syracuse contend that St. Joseph's Hospital Health Center and Crouse Hospital in Syracuse and Faxton-St. Luke's Healthcare in Utica have practices and policies that automatically deduct health care workers' lunch breaks from their pay, even when they work during those breaks taking care of patients.
The federal Fair Labor Standards Act requires workers to be paid if they must work through a lunch break.
Nurses are dedicated and they don't just drop patients to take lunch, Solomon said.
The three hospitals employ a total of about 3,200 nurses, but the class action covers any worker involved in direct patient care. Total employment is about 2,560 at Crouse, 3,140 at St. Joseph's and 2,600 at Faxton-St. Luke's.
So far, the plaintiffs include 118 current and former workers at St. Joseph's, 110 at Faxton-St. Luke's and 103 at Crouse.
Federal law allows workers to recover lost wages for up to three years. For an employee making between $15 and $25 an hour, those lost wages could range from $7,000 to more than $29,000 over that time, Solomon said.
Solomon's firm also filed class actions against five hospitals in Buffalo and Pittsburgh involving a total of 2,081 plaintiffs. Those suits are pending. They name Catholic Health System and Kaleida Health in Buffalo and Pittsburgh Mercy Health System, West Penn Allegheny Health System and University of Pittsburgh Medical Center.
For more information please contact:
Patrick Solomon
The Strong Todd House
693 East Avenue
Rochester, NY 14607
585.272.0540 (phone)
585.272.0574 (fax)
psolomon@theemploymentattorneys.com
