Kaiser Employees Win Overtime Class Action

By Sarah Pierce

(LEGAFI) -- Approximately 500 people who worked as information technology employees at Kaiser Foundation Hospitals have won a class action lawsuit settlement for being misclassified as exempt from overtime pay. The $2.91 million Kaiser settlement, which was recently granted final approval by a California federal court, includes the settlement fund for class members’ claims, payments under California’s Private Attorney General Act (PAGA), attorneys’ fees, and other related costs.

According to the Kaiser overtime class action lawsuit, entitled Smith et. al, v. Kaiser Foundation Hospitals, Inc., employees who worked as Business Application Coordinators and Analysts for the hospital between 2004 and 2009 were misclassified as exempt under both the Fair Labor Standards Act and California law, and denied overtime pay for working through lunch periods and working in excess of 40 hours per week, 8 hours per day or on the seventh consecutive day of a workweek. The primary duties of these employees was to provide training and technical support to hospital staff in connection with Kaiser’s HealthConnect computer system, which was installed as part of a procedure called “GoLive.” During the “GoLive” procedure, team members traveled to Kaiser facilities in Northern California for month-long durations. During these deployments, the Kaiser class action says, these employees worked more than 8 hours a day and more than 40 hours a week, and were often unable to take meal or rest breaks. They were also required to deliver training sessions during their lunch periods called “Lunch & Learns,” were required to remain on-call without additional compensation, and were required to remain within 30 minutes of their work premises in case on-site technical support was needed.

After payment of attorneys’ fees, costs, named plaintiffs’ enhancement awards and the PAGA payment, the settlement fund available to class members of the Kaiser Business Application Coordinator and Analyst Overtime Class Action Lawsuit Settlement will be approximately $2.07 million.