TeamHealth emergency physician wage-and-hour $15M class action lawsuit settlement

TeamHealth agreed to pay $15 million to resolve class action lawsuit claims it failed to properly pay its emergency medicine physicians under Relative Value Unit (RVU) compensation plans.

The settlement benefits emergency medicine physicians who participated in one of TeamHealth’s affiliates’ RVU compensation plans as an independent contractor or employee but who was not paid for some or all of those RVUs under the relevant plan. 

“Pool plans,” “tiered plans” and plans where RVUs were determined under the “sole discretion” of Team Health are not included in the settlement. A full list of excluded facilities and plan years can be found on the settlement website.

TeamHealth is an emergency physician provider that provides staffing, administrative support and management services to hospitals around the country. The company reportedly employs 15,000 clinicians to accommodate temporary and permanent placements.

However, doctors working for TeamHealth may have been denied the compensation they were owed by the company.

Plaintiffs in a wage-and-hour class action lawsuit claim TeamHealth fails to pay emergency medicine doctors according to RVU compensation plans. These plans compensate physicians based on the time, resources and skill required to treat each patient.

According to the class action lawsuit, TeamHealth fails to properly pay supervisory RVUs, where another provider is listed as a “secondary” for billing purposes. Changes to RVU compensation plans in 2018 and 2019 allegedly dictated that providers did not get credit for supervisory RVUs. However, for supervisory RVUs before these changes, plaintiffs claim they and other emergency physicians deserve to be compensated according to their RVU compensation plans.

TeamHealth hasn’t admitted any wrongdoing but agreed to resolve these allegations with a $15 million class action lawsuit settlement.

Under the terms of the settlement, class members can receive a cash payment based on the number of eligible supervisory RVUs that were unpaid by TeamHealth. Based on these factors, class members will receive a proportional share of the net settlement fund. Payment estimates are not available.

The deadline for exclusion and objection passed on May 31, 2022. 

The final approval hearing for the TeleHealth lawsuit settlement was scheduled for July 28, 2022.

In order to receive a payment from the settlement, class members must submit a valid claim form by Aug. 29, 2022. Current employees do not need to complete any tax forms to receive a payment, but former workers will need to send a current W-9 with their claim form in order to receive a payment.

Who’s Eligible

Emergency medicine physicians who participated in one of TeamHealth’s affiliates’ Relative Value Unit (RVU) compensation plans as an independent contractor or employee but was not paid for some or all of those RVUs

Potential Award

Varies

Proof of Purchase

Proof of purchase not applicable

Claim Form

NOTE: If you do not qualify for this settlement do NOT file a claim.

Remember: you are submitting your claim under penalty of perjury. You are also harming other eligible Class Members by submitting a fraudulent claim. If you’re unsure if you qualify, please read the FAQ section of the Settlement Administrator’s website to ensure you meet all standards (Top Class Actions is not a Settlement Administrator). If you don’t qualify for this settlement, check out our database of other open class action settlements you may be eligible for.

Claim Form Deadline

08/29/2022

Case Name

Forward Momentum LLC, et al. v. Team Health Inc, et al., Case No. 2:17-cv-346 in United States District Court for the Middle District of Alabama

Final Hearing

07/28/2022

Settlement Website

RVUSettlement.com

Claims Administrator

Forward Momentum, LLC v. Team Health, Inc.
c/o Settlement Administrator
P.O. Box 43434 
Providence, RI 02940-3434
admin@RVUsettlement.com
1-888-256-2709

Class Counsel

DG Pantazis
WIGGINS CHILDS PANTAZIS FISHER GOLDFARB LLC

Defense Counsel

Jeff Starling
BALCH & BINGHAM LLP