Providence Health & Services Faces Wage and Hour Lawsuit

A wage and hour lawsuit has been filed against Providence Health & Services Oregon (Providence). Plaintiff Brandon W., a biomedical technician who has worked for Providence’s Portland Medical Center company since 2010, alleges that the company failed to pay him for overtime wages, violating the FLSA overtime rules and various state wage and hour laws.

The wage and hour lawsuit also alleges that Providence retaliated against Brandon for whistleblowing, reporting safety violations and criminal activity (including a forgery of his signature on a maintenance checklist), and for reporting race discrimination.

According to court records, Brandon claims because of the defendant’s practice in routinely rounding employee clock-in and clock-out times at the beginning and end of each shift, he was not fully compensated for the hours he actually worked, including work time that exceeded a 40-hour workweek and tasks he was instructed to perform off the clock.

He also accuses Providence of deducting meal breaks from his work hours even if he hadn’t actually received a meal breaks during those work days. Brandon further claims he was not provided an itemized statement to show the amount and purposes of the wages withheld as a result of the company’s instruction to complete certain assigned tasks off the clock. The wage and hour lawsuit further alleges other portions of Brandon’s wages were withheld as a result of the meal break deductions to which he is legally entitled to under state and federal wage laws.

Oregon Labor Law Violations

Like federal law, Oregon state law requires employers to pay employees one and one-half times the employee’s regular rate of pay for all hours over 40 worked in any 7-day work week. Overtime pay is mandatory in Oregon and may not be replaced with comp time (except for government employees), even if the employer and the employee come to an agreement.

Oregon wage and hour laws also generally require that overtime wages be paid by an employer/boss to non-exempt employees. In addition to recovering the unpaid overtime wages, an employee could recover up to 30 days of wages as a civil overtime penalty. In addition to the unpaid overtime wages and the overtime civil penalty, and employee whose employment has ended may also be entitled to up to 30 days of penalty wages for the employer’s failure to timely pay all wages at the end of the employment relationship.

Additionally, Oregon meal and rest breaks are required for every work period of six to eight hours and employees are entitled to a 30-minute meal period. If an employer cannot provide such a 30-minute meal period because of the nature or circumstances of the work, they must permit employees to eat while working and pay employees for that time. An employer may also provide a shorter meal period (minimum of 20 minutes) if they can show that there is an industry practice of a shorter paid meal period. In addition and separate and apart from the 30-minute meal period, each employee is entitled to a 10-minute break for every four hours worked. Unlike the 30-minute period, this cannot be deducted from wages.

Wage and Hour Violations Legal Help

If you feel that your employer has violated state or federal employment laws, you may qualify for damages that may be awarded in a possible wage and hour class action lawsuit or civil action lawsuit.

Brandon seeks restitution of all applicable unpaid wages and overtime, liquidated damages, and attorney’s fees and cost for Providence’s alleged violations of both federal and Oregon Wage and Hour Laws. He has demanded a jury trial for this case.

The Providence Health & Services Violations of Wage and Hours Lawsuit is Case No. 3:14-cv-02067-ST, in the U.S. District Court for the District of Oregon, Portland Division.

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