Nurse’s suit alleges ‘phantom’ breaks
A nurse at Memorial Hermann Health System has sued the hospital chain for allegedly requiring her to work without pay during her lunch break, the latest in a series of similar wage cases that nurses have brought against health care providers.
Meghan Stewart, a nurse who began working four years ago at Memorial Hermann-The Texas Medical Center, filed suit on Friday in U.S. District Court in Houston, claiming that she and more than 4,000 of her co-workers aren’t paid for tending to patients during their meal periods. The filing came the same day other nurses settled a similar lawsuit against Houston Methodist Hospital.
That suit, filed two years ago on behalf of some 5,000 nurses, nursing assistants, and patient-case assistants at Methodist Hospital, alleged that they were not paid during lunch breaks, but still had to respond to patient calls, meet with physicians and perform other duties. The case was settled Friday, but terms were not disclosed.
A spokeswoman for Methodist said she could not comment because of the confidentiality agreement.
Lawsuits over unpaid meal breaks are becoming more common in health care as providers try to control costs, workplace specialists said. But hospitals aren’t alone in the drive to lower labor expenses.
“It’s happening in the oil fields, health care, it’s happening everywhere,” said Gregg Rosenberg, an employment lawyer in Houston who is representing Life Flight workers in a separate case involving unpaid meal breaks at Memorial Hermann. “People are realizing they’re not getting
paid for the time they’ve worked.”
As more employees get their back wages, word gets around, he said, which leads to more cases.
In 2013, for example, North Cypress Medical Center settled a case involving unpaid meal breaks, agreeing to pay an undisclosed amount of back wages, including overtime, to its nurses, according to the settlement letters filed with the court. North Cypress, which denied in court documents that it violated any federal laws in its wage practices, said it did not have enough time to respond.
In January, a former paramedic who worked for Life Flight, the helicopter ambulance service, sued Memorial Hermann, alleging that he and co-workers stationed at an airport in Baytown must clock out for a 30-minute lunch break each day. But the paramedics, nurses and pilots can’t leave the facility during their breaks and must be ready to respond to emergencies.
In May, U.S. District Judge Keith P. Ellison rejected a request by Memorial Hermann to dismiss the case.
The latest case against Memorial Hermann involves nurses who worked during the past three years at the Texas Medical Center, and other Memorial Hermann hospitals in Katy, Memorial City, Northeast, Greater Heights, Southeast, Southwest and The Woodlands.
Employees are required to clock in at the beginning of their shifts and clock out at the end, according to the lawsuit. They are not required to clock out for lunch, but Memorial Hermann deducts 30 minutes from their paid workday.
A spokeswoman for the health system, Alex Rodriguez Loessin, said “Memorial Hermann is firmly committed to compliance with all employment laws.”
Galvin B. Kennedy, an employment lawyer in Houston who is representing Stewart, said nurses at Memorial Hermann can ask to be paid for their lunch break on a day-byday basis, but are discouraged from doing so. The nurses earn between $15 and $50 an hour, he said.
Kennedy also represents the nurses at Methodist and North Cypress.