Hospital Employee Lawsuit Seeks Resolution of California Wage and Overtime Violations

Wage violations are sadly common in a number of industries, from food to retail to construction and more. Even in the hospital industry, employees can be affected by wage violations that have a significant effect on their income, such as failure to pay proper overtime compensation.

Hospital Employee Lawsuit

A recent hospital employee lawsuit exemplified these kinds of wage violation claims at hospitals. The plaintiff, Bernadette P., filed her lawsuit in 2016 against Sutter West Bay Hospitals, where she has worked since 1995 and was classified as non-exempt.

According to Bernadette’s hospital employee lawsuit, she and others in her position were not properly compensated with overtime wages. Moreover, the hospital employee lawsuit actually alleges that the hospital’s payment policies intentionally avoided the proper payment of overtime compensation under California law.

The overtime lawsuit alleges that, though she was paid on an hourly basis, she was granted bonus wages based on her performance. But when calculating her overtime wages, the bonus wages were allegedly not included in the “regular rate of pay,” so the overall overtime the hospital claimed to owe was lower than it should have been. She claims this has resulted in a “systematic underpayment of overtime compensation”—to both Bernadette and other employees in a similar position.

Bernadette filed her hospital employee lawsuit as a class action on behalf of herself and all other non-exempt employees like her who worked for Sutter West Bay Hospitals anytime in the four years prior to her lawsuit.

The hospital employee lawsuit was filed on multiple counts, including unlawful business practices, failure to pay overtime compensation, and failure to provide accurate itemized statements. The lawsuit was filed on June 1, 2016, in the Superior Court of the State of California.

Wage and Hour Regulations

There are a series of both federal and state wage and hour laws put in place to protect workers and ensure they are treated fairly. However, many workers across the country do not know the protections that the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) offers, which can lead to employers taking advantage of them, in some cases requiring unpaid overtime work despite the illegality of doing so.

Some workers may find themselves unable to file wage and hour complaints like this unpaid overtime lawsuit because they are not aware of FLSA rules. Others may be afraid that their employers will retaliate or even fire them if they speak up about these kinds of FLSA violations. To protect workers who help to enforce FLSA rules, laws also exist to protect workers from discrimination based on wage and hour complaints.

Filing a Hospital Employee Lawsuit

If you have worked at a hospital and have been affected by wage and hour violations, such as failure to pay proper overtime compensation, you may be able to file a hospital employee lawsuit.

The Hospital Employee Lawsuit is Case No. CIV538977 in the Superior Court of the State of California in and for the County of San Mateo.

Join a Free California Wage & Hour Class Action Lawsuit Investigation

If you were forced to work off the clock or without overtime pay within the past 3 years in California, you have rights – and you don’t have to take on the company alone.

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