Nurses to Receive $11.2M To End Misclassification Suit

Nurses for Humana, one of the nation’s largest publicly-traded health and supplemental benefits companies, will soon receive millions in unpaid wages. A collective action lawsuit filed back in 2017 accused the health provider of wrongfully classifying a group of nurses as exempt from receiving overtime pay under the Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”). All clinical nurse advisors or those in similarly situated positions such as Clinical Intake, Clinical Claims Review, Clinical Claims Review, DME, Acute Case Managers, Market Clinical, and Senior Products utilization management nurses that worked for Humana at any time within the three years prior to June 14, 2018 will be able to benefit from the $11.2 million settlement.

Nurses that primarily performed utilization management functions for the health provider alleged that they should have been paid hourly and overtime when working over 40 hours per week. Under the FLSA, their main job functionwas to collect and review medical information against company guidelines, typically completed out of call centers or hospitals, which would qualify them for overtime.Instead, they claimed Humana incorrectly classified them as exempt from this pay benefit even though they consistently worked way over to 40 hours per week to complete their workload. This misclassification was evident enough that in 2018, nearly a year after the lawsuit, Humana reclassified all of the affected employees as hourly workers eligible for overtime pay.

The settlement result in this case is excellent with over200 eligible nurses receiving an average of $36,000 each. It is also a great reminder that despite having an established set salary for all your work examining whether or not your job responsibilities qualify you to receive overtime pay is extremely important. However, since this is not always straightforward, speaking to an employment attorney may be helpful in determining if you have any wage claims. Our firm, Fitapelli & Schaffer, LLP, offers a free and confidential consultation at (212) 300-0375. You can also visit our website here for additional helpful information regarding your rights.