Quest Diagnostics Unpaid Overtime Class Action Lawsuit Deal Initially Approved

A California federal judge has given preliminary approval to Quest Diagnostics Clinical Laboratories settlement deal involving a class of 2,600 phlebotomisits in a recent unpaid overtime class action lawsuit.

According to the allegations made in the unpaid overtime class action lawsuit, the blood technicians were forced to work unpaid overtime in long shifts without meal breaks or rest periods.

U.S. District Judge Dale A. Drozd had approved the proposed $2.35 million settlement, which including $798,000 in legal fees.

Named plaintiffs Dorthea Emmons and Lisa Stapleton both worked as phlebotomists at the company locations in Northern California and filed the unpaid overtime class action lawsuit in February 2013 on behalf of themselves and other employees.

The claim alleges Quest Diagnostics had violated state overtime rules and other minimum wage violations, including unpaid overtime pay and denied rest periods.

Under the agreement of the settlement, the class includes “floater” and “nonfloater” phlebotomists who had worked for Quest Diagnostics at any time between April 29, 2011 to the date of preliminary approval. On average, each class member will receive $575 under the current settlement agreement.

Emmons and Stapleton will also each receive $8,000 for their parts as class representatives in the unpaid overtime class action lawsuit, with the California Labor Workforce Development Agency receiving $15,000 under the State’s Private Attorneys General Act.

Overview of California Break Violations

According to the claim, Quest Diagnostics had staff members work long periods of overtime and not take breaks due to severe understaffing.

Class member allege that Quest Diagnostics had long term problems with understaffing at its locations, forcing out any meal breaks and rest periods because there was no one to cover them.

The understaffing problem had also interfered with the duties of the class members, often causing them to be unable to complete all their shift assignments.

“Specifically, plaintiffs allege that defendants strongly discouraged class members from working overtime, and thus class members felt pressure to work off-the-clock before the start of and after the end of their scheduled shifts in order to complete their assigned tasks without facing potential discipline for clocking overtime,” the settlement filing states.

Under California overtime rules, minimum wage employees must receive overtime pay if they work over 40hrs a week or if they work over eight hours in a single day. The overtime pay rate is 1.5x the minimum wage rate, and must be included in the next pay check.

In addition, California labor laws also protect the employees’ right to a 30 minute lunch break every five hours and a 10 minute break every four hours. Any missed meal breaks must be compensated in the employees’ next paycheck, by adding an additional hour of pay.

Quest Diagnostics allegedly failed to follow through with any of these requirements, resulting the unpaid overtime class action lawsuit.

The Quest Diagnostics Unpaid Overtime Class Action Lawsuit is Dorothea Emmons et al v. Quest Diagnostics Clinical Laboratories, Inc et al, Case No. 1:13-cv-00474, in the U.S. District Court of Eastern California.

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