$2.75 Million Goes to Temp Nurses in Overtime Case Settlement

In recent news, a group of temporary healthcare providers alleged overtime violations. After filing suit (Dalchau et al v. Fastaff, LLC, N.D. Cal., No. 3:17-cv-01584), and gaining class certification, the overtime class action lawsuit was settled. The class members will split about $1.6 million.

The nursing staff company that allegedly violated overtime regulations, will pay $2.75 million to settle the case. The collective action settlement won final approval from a California federal court. The class members include more than 2,750 nurses and technicians across the nation. The members allege that Fastaff LLC did not include housing stipends in their overtime calculations, which is in violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act and California labor law.

Defining Overtime Pay: Overtime pay is compensation paid to an employee who works more than “full time” hours as defined by federal labor law. The rate of overtime pay is calculated by multiplying the regular hourly rate of pay by 1.5. The amount of overtime pay provided to an employee is the overtime pay rate (as previously calculated) multiplied by the number of hours worked over 40 in one week or over 8 in one day.

$1.7 million of the settlement will be split amongst class and collective members, after necessary deductions. Each of the members will receive a payout of approximately $624.  

Lead plaintiffs in the case, Stephanie Dalchau and Michael Goodwin, will receive $10,000 service awards. Counsel will receive $916,000 in attorneys’ fees and $27,700 for reimbursed litigation costs. The hybrid settlement is seen as fair, reasonable, and adequate by Judge William H. Orrick of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California. The settlement was granted preliminary approval May 12th, 2019. Orrick determined that appropriate notice was issued to putative class members and no objections were made to the terms of the settlement.

If you are not being paid overtime or if you need to file an overtime lawsuit, we can help. Get in contact with Blumenthal Nordrehaug Bhowmik DeBlouw LLP. Experienced employment law attorneys are ready to assist you in any one of various law firm offices located in San Diego, San Francisco, Sacramento, Los Angeles, Riverside, and Chicago.