LPN Files Unpaid Wages Lawsuit for Working Meal Break Deduction

A Licensed Practical Nurse (LPN) is said to have filed a new unpaid wages class action lawsuit against non-profit Berkshire Health Systems.

According to a Berkshire Eagle article, Pittsfield, Mass. resident Shayla C. claims that the hospital system routinely deducted time from the LPN’s time card for meal breaks that she and others were rarely able to take without work interruption.

Shayla filed the class action unpaid wages lawsuit in U.S. District Court located in Springfield, Massachusetts in late December 2017. Shayla is represented by Benjamin Steffens, a Pittsfield attorney.

The unpaid wages lawsuit documentation claims that Shayla and other LPNs were, more often than not, given work assignments during times reserved for meal breaks and thus were deprived of rightfully earned money.

There are believed to be at least one hundred other nurses that would echo this complaint and possibly join the litigation if it is approved as a class action.

The nurses are seeking unpaid wages for working meal breaks retroactively for six years. Additionally, they are seeking accumulated interest and damages as deemed appropriate by the jury.

The article from the Berkshire Eagle website indicates that Lucy Prashker, attorney for Berkshire Health Systems, denies the legitimacy of the central unpaid wages allegation.

According to her, LPNs are allowed dedicated 30-minute meal breaks when they work a minimum of six consecutive hours in a shift and are never requested or expected to work during that time.

Shayla is currently on an extended leave of absence from her job as an LPN working at Hillcrest Family Health Center of Pittsfield. She worked there from May 2016 until taking leave in July 2017.

According to the Berkshire Health Systems attorney, the lead plaintiff is actually an employee of the Medical Center and Berkshire Health should not be a named defendant when it in fact has zero employees.

The attorney also says, according to the Berkshire Eagle article, that LPNs for the Medical Center are represented by Service Employees International Union (SEIU) 1199 and that the central claim should be part of collective bargaining arbitration.

Steffens, plaintiff’s attorney, disagrees and indicates Shayla’s interests and that of other LPNs deprived of earned income are served much better through the legal system.

He claims that his client was given meal break work and it was often completed in the presence of managers that should have been aware of labor law. Regarding the naming of Berkshire Health as defendant, Steffens believes this alleged problem will be worked out in the course of litigation.

In late April, attorneys for both sides met for the first time. If the lawsuit is certified as a class action, Berkshire Health Systems might be forced to send out notification to LPNs that they currently or formerly employed within the class period.

This notification will give the nurses the information they need to decide whether or not to join the legal action.

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