Friday, May 23, 2008
Sutter sued a third time over missed meal breaks
Class action sign of a bigger trend
Sacramento Business Journal - by Kathy Robertson Staff writer
A new class action filed against Sutter Health for allegedly violating state rules on meal and rest breaks broadens the number and type of employees pursuing unpaid wages from the health care giant.
The lawsuit was filed in Sacramento Superior Court on May 6 on behalf of nurses, surgical technicians and ancillary staff who worked in the 26-hospital system at any time since 2004.
It brings the number of class actions filed against Sutter on the meal and rest breaks issue to three and suggests the cases could be combined into one big lawsuit that would address the claims of employees across the health system.
It also raises the stakes for Sacramento-based Sutter Health, whose local hospitals are the subject of an ongoing state investigation on the issue that could cost the health system millions of dollars in unpaid wages.
"We are aware that a third class action has been filed, and we'll vigorously defend it," Sutter spokeswoman Nancy Turner said. "The overtime, meal period and rest period allegations are similar, but the employee scope is larger. We are examining the allegations and will be filing our response in due course."
Sutter is not alone.
A class action was filed in San Francisco Superior Court on Feb. 4 against Catholic Healthcare West, parent company to local Mercy hospitals, on the same issue.
Meal and rest breaks have become the hottest issue in state employment law following a state Supreme Court decision last year that affects all businesses. Other industries, including restaurants, have also been hit with class actions on the issue.
Companies that deny hourly employees a 30-minute meal break after five hours of work -- or a 10-minute rest break after four hours -- must compensate the worker with a full hour of additional pay, according to state labor law.
An April 2007 ruling by the California Supreme Court tripled the stakes, allowing workers to file for three years of back pay instead of one. If lawyers throw unfair business practices into the charges, an extra year may be added.
Missed meals and rest breaks
Danial Waltman, one of two plaintiffs in the new class action, has worked as a surgical technician at Sutter General Hospital since 1999.
He often assists in complex cases such as total joint replacements that take five hours or more, forcing him to miss required meal and rest breaks. Waltman estimates he's owed hundreds of hours over the past three years.
"I am not trying to get wealthy from suing Sutter," he said. "It's between $15,000 and $35,000 for meals and breaks, not a million."
In one example of why the lawsuit was filed, a surgeon expected his team to finish cases that ran late into the night, despite the fact that their shift ended at 3 p.m.
"Eventually one (tech stayed), after (the surgeon) screamed and yelled at the supervisor for several minutes, acting like a spoiled child," Waltman said. "This type of intimidation occurs far too often, heaping unnecessary stress upon staff."
Waltman said the reach is far greater than Sutter General.
"I could settle, but there are other people affected," he said. "This is not just a local problem. It is a system-wide problem and full health care problem."
The class action, filed on behalf of Waltman, another surgical tech named William Rosenberg and nurses, surgical techs and ancillary staff at other facilities across the Sutter network, alleges Sutter:
Failed to authorize and permit paid rest and meal periods
Failed to pay for overtime hours worked in excess of 40 hours a week
Failed to pay for the time it takes employees to respond to on-call duty
Rounded down employees' time and made unlawful payroll deductions
Failed to furnish employees with timely and accurate wage and hour statements
Failed to record and maintain updated payroll records accurately.
The lawsuit seeks class action status, a court order to cease and desist from this behavior, restitution to employees, punitive and exemplary damages, attorneys fees and court costs.
The suit was filed by the York Law Corp. in Sacramento, but lead attorney Wendy York did not return repeated calls for comment.
At stalemate
Similar cases were filed in February and March, and plaintiffs' attorneys are staking out slightly different positions, but all have named Sutter Health as a defendant.
"They're going to have to be put together, for everybody's benefit, including Sutter's," Sacramento lawyer H. Wade Sammis said.
He was first out of the chute with a class action filed in Sacramento County Superior Court on Feb. 13 on behalf of five local nurses seeking to collect back pay for overtime and missed meal and rest breaks over the past four years.
The suit was amended May 1 to add equipment technicians and expand the reach to include Sutter-affiliated Mills Peninsula Health Services in Burlingame.
Another class action was filed March 6 in Alameda County Superior Court by attorneys from New York City, Washington D.C., and Los Angeles on behalf of nurses throughout the Sutter system. Among the three named plaintiffs is a registered nurse at Sutter General. It also seeks unpaid wages, injunctive relief and damages.
A state investigation into meal and rest breaks at local Sutter hospitals was kicked off late last year after a flurry of complaints at Sutter Medical Center Sacramento.
Sutter and a spokeswoman for the state Department of Labor Standards Enforcement confirmed the investigation is continuing but would not comment further.
"The (meal and rest break) issue is in kind of a stalemate," said Scott Seamons, regional vice president for the Hospital Council, a trade group.
"We are attempting to reach a resolution on the true intent of the law -- and provide safe and appropriate care to our patients," he said. "If a team is really involved with a procedure and you have to give the tech a break, that may be in the best interest of labor law ... but nobody likes it."