A California judge has given preliminary approval to a proposed $78 million class action lawsuit settlement between Air Methods Corporation, one of the nation’s largest medical air transport companies, and hundreds of current and former employees over claims of unpaid overtime wages and denied work breaks.
On July 1, Alameda County Superior Court Judge Winifred Y. Smith granted preliminary approval to the deal reached between Air Methods Corporation of Colorado and some 450 members of the company’s medical flight crews. Each plaintiff will receive more than $100,000, according to a report published in The Mercury News.
Employees: Air Methods Corporation Violated Labor Laws
In their class action lawsuit, filed in 2013, the plaintiffs accused Air Methods of violating California labor laws by refusing to pay daily overtime to flight crew members who worked more than eight hours in a day. The crew members said they regularly worked 24-hour shifts, during which they had to remain on-call and at the air ambulance’s base, with no off-duty meal or rest breaks, EMS World reported.
“Air Methods was not paying daily overtime generally required under California law for working more than eight hours, and it was not counting up to eight of crew members’ 24 hours on base toward weekly overtime, calling it a ‘sleep period.'” according to EMS World. “The company also refused crew off-duty meal or rest breaks or pay extra pay in their absence as California law generally requires.”
California lawrequires employers to pay workers one and a half times their regular rate of pay for anything more than eight hours worked in a day, 40 hours in a workweek, and double the rate of pay for anything over 12 hours in a single workday, unless the employees are exempt. According to the California Department of Industrial Relations, employees are entitled to a “30-minute off-duty lunch break if they work more than 5 hours in a workday, and 10-minute breaks every 4 hours worked. A second 30-minute meal break must be provided if an employee works more than 10 hours.” During those breaks, employees must be relieved of all their duties and employers must not discourage workers from taking the legally mandated breaks.
Other Terms of the Class Action Lawsuit Settlement
The Mercury News reported that under the settlement terms, Air Methods agreed to pay daily overtime to its medical flight crews – which includes paramedics and nurses – starting from June 28. The extra pay will increase salaries by an estimated 20 percent.
The settlement also calls for the court to issue a permanent injunction requiring Air Methods to change its pay practices and prevent the air ambulance company from lowering the hourly pay rate of any employees who participated in the class action lawsuit.
The $78 million settlement is the second Air Methods has reached with its employees in the last two years. In 2018, the air ambulance company agreed to pay current and former workers $4.3 million over claims of unpaid “off-the-clock work,” EMS World reported.
Judge Smith is expected to give final approval to the settlement in October after she reviews the details regarding legal fees and compensation for the lawyers who represented the employees.
Air Methods Corporation’s spokesman Doug Flanders issued a statement shortly after the judge granted preliminary approval to the settlement.
“This decision to change AMC’s pay practices puts our teammates first,” Flanders told The Mercury News. “We know this will make us stronger in California by ensuring we continue to recruit and retain the top medical clinicians in the state … (it) strengthens our push to be the destination employer for all in the air medical industry and allows us to continue to provide the highest level of care to all the California communities we serve.”
The Air Methods Corporation Class Action Lawsuits are Case No. RG13665373 in Alameda County Superior Court and 4:20-cv-1700 in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California.
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