To view the most recent Complaint that was filed with the Court Click Here. It is important to note that the Court may have issued rulings that impacted the alleged claims. For more information, please contact our office at 877.272.4066.
To view the Order Conditionally Certifying the Class Click Here .
Please read the Federal Regulations that require you to be paid for all the time that you work. These same Federal Regulations require that you be completely relieved of your duties during your meal period.
In certifying the class, The Judge has concluded that the employees have made a "modest factual showing" that they routinely worked through their meal periods to attend to patient needs and there was a practice of applying the automatic 30-minute meal break deduction to those employees when they worked through part or all of their meal breaks.
The Judge has ordered that only certain employees will receive the Court Notice of the lawsuit in the mail. THEREFORE, IF YOU DO NOT RECEIVE THE COURT NOTICE, IT IS CRUCIAL THAT YOU CONTACT OUR LAW FIRM BECAUSE OUR LEGAL TEAM EXPECTS TO FILE A SEPARATE CLAIM TO RECOVER ANY WAGES YOU MAY BE OWED.
Catholic employees who held the following positions: Registered Nurse, Charge Nurse, Staff Nurse, Licensed Practical Nurse and Respiratory Therapist at the following Catholic locations: Kenmore Mercy Hospital, Mercy Hospital of Buffalo, St. Joseph Hospital, Sisters of Charity Hospital, McAuley Residence, St. Catherine Laboure Health Care Center, Father Baker Manor, St. Elizabeth’s Home of Lancaster, St. Francis of Buffalo, St. Francis Home of Williamsville, and Nazareth Nursing Home will receive the Court Notice in the mail.
Current and former employees have sued Catholic Health System and related entities(referred to in this notice as
“Catholic Health System”) claiming Catholic Health System failed to
pay overtime to its hourly employees.
Though the lawsuit has been filed
and there has been no determination whether Catholic Health System did anything
wrong. There is no money available now and no guarantee there will be. However,
if you:
Your legal rights may be affected by this lawsuit and you have a choice to make now:
ASK TO BE INCLUDED |
Ask to join in the lawsuit. Await the outcome. Give up right to sue separately. |
DO NOTHING |
Do nothing. Get no benefits from any lawsuit filed. Keep right to sue separately. |
The Judge has ordered that only certain employees will receive the Court Notice of the lawsuit in the mail. THEREFORE, IF YOU DO NOT RECEIVE THE COURT NOTICE, IT IS CRUCIAL THAT YOU CONTACT OUR LAW FIRM BECAUSE OUR LEGAL TEAM EXPECTS TO CERTIFY A SEPARATE CLAIM TO RECOVER ANY WAGES YOU MAY BE OWED.
Catholic employees who held the following positions: Registered Nurse, Charge Nurse, Staff Nurse, Licensed Practical Nurse and Respiratory Therapist at the following Catholic locations: Kenmore Mercy Hospital, Mercy Hospital of Buffalo, St. Joseph Hospital, Sisters of Charity Hospital, McAuley Residence, St. Catherine Laboure Health Care Center, Father Baker Manor, St. Elizabeth’s Home of Lancaster, St. Francis of Buffalo, St. Francis Home of Williamsville, and Nazareth Nursing Home will receive the Court Notice in the mail.
The Judge has ordered that Catholic Employees have only 60 days to submit their Consent Forms to participate in this action. THEREFORE, IF YOU DO NOT RECEIVE A CONSENT FORM IN THE MAIL IN THE UPCOMING WEEKS, IT IS CRUCIAL THAT YOU CONTACT OUR LAW FIRM BECAUSE OUR LEGAL TEAM EXPECTS TO CERTIFY A SEPARATE CLAIM TO RECOVER ANY WAGES YOU MAY BE OWED.
In a collective (or class) action lawsuit, one or more people called "Class Representatives" sue on behalf of other people who have similar claims. The people together are a "Class" or "Class Members." The individuals who sue—and all the Class Members like them—are called the plaintiffs. The company that is sued (for example, in this lawsuit, Catholic Health System) is called the defendant. Unless each employee's case ends up being tried separately, one Court resolves the issues for everyone in the Class—except for those people who choose not to join the Class.
The Judge has ordered that only certain employees will receive the Court Notice of the lawsuit in the mail. THEREFORE, IF YOU DO NOT RECEIVE THE COURT NOTICE, IT IS IMPERATIVE THAT YOU CONTACT OUR LAW FIRM BECAUSE OUR LEGAL TEAM EXPECTS TO CERTIFY A SEPARATE CLAIM TO RECOVER ANY WAGES YOU MAY BE OWED.
Catholic employees who held the following positions: Registered Nurse, Charge Nurse, Staff Nurse, Licensed Practical Nurse and Respiratory Therapist at the following Catholic locations: Kenmore Mercy Hospital, Mercy Hospital of Buffalo, St. Joseph Hospital, Sisters of Charity Hospital, McAuley Residence, St. Catherine Laboure Health Care Center, Father Baker Manor, St. Elizabeth’s Home of Lancaster, St. Francis of Buffalo, St. Francis Home of Williamsville, and Nazareth Nursing Home will receive the Court Notice in the mail.
In the lawsuit that the employees are considering bringing, the plaintiffs say that Catholic Health System failed to pay hourly employees for all the time that Catholic Health System permitted them to do work. Specifically, plaintiffs say that among other things, Catholic Health System implemented an automatic meal deduction policy under which hourly employees were not paid for their meal periods, even though the employees did some work during those meal periods.
As part of the lawsuit, the employees will ask that because Catholic Health System did not pay overtime as required by law, they are owed that unpaid overtime, as well as additional damages allowed by the law and your attorneys' fees.
The Judge has ordered that Catholic employees who held the following positions: Registered Nurse, Charge Nurse, Staff Nurse, Licensed Practical Nurse and Respiratory Therapist at the following Catholic locations: Kenmore Mercy Hospital, Mercy Hospital of Buffalo, St. Joseph Hospital, Sisters of Charity Hospital, McAuley Residence, St. Catherine Laboure Health Care Center, Father Baker Manor, St. Elizabeth’s Home of Lancaster, St. Francis of Buffalo, St. Francis Home of Williamsville, and Nazareth Nursing Home will receive the Court Notice in the mail.
Though a lawsuit has been filed the Court hasn't decided whether Catholic Health System or the employees are correct. The Judge has ordered that only certain employees will receive the Court Notice of the lawsuit in the mail. THEREFORE, IF YOU DO NOT RECEIVE THE COURT NOTICE, IT IS CRUCIAL THAT YOU CONTACT OUR LAW FIRM BECAUSE OUR LEGAL TEAM EXPECTS TO CERTIFY A SEPARATE CLAIM TO RECOVER ANY WAGES YOU MAY BE OWED.
In certifying the class, The Judge has concluded that the employees have made a "modest factual showing" that they routinely worked through their meal periods to attend to patient needs and there was a practice of applying the automatic 30-minute meal break deduction to those employees when they worked through part or all of their meal breaks.
Catholic employees who held the following positions: Registered Nurse, Charge Nurse, Staff Nurse, Licensed Practical Nurse and Respiratory Therapist at the following Catholic locations: Kenmore Mercy Hospital, Mercy Hospital of Buffalo, St. Joseph Hospital, Sisters of Charity Hospital, McAuley Residence, St. Catherine Laboure Health Care Center, Father Baker Manor, St. Elizabeth’s Home of Lancaster, St. Francis of Buffalo, St. Francis Home of Williamsville, and Nazareth Nursing Home will receive the Court Notice in the mail.
To participate in the lawsuit, you need to fill out the two forms found here and return them to the law firm representing the plaintiffs. You will also need to qualify to participate. It is entirely your own decision whether or not to join this lawsuit.
If you fail to do so, you will not be allowed to participate in any recovery for the federal overtime claims in this lawsuit and may be jeopardizing your right to sue.
If you decide to join this suit, you will be bound by the settlement or judgment, whether it is favorable or not. If there is a favorable resolution, either by settlement or judgment, and you qualify, you will be entitled to some portion of the recovery.
If you do nothing, you will not participate in the collective action that is filed. You will not be bound by any decision on the federal overtime suit. Therefore, you will not be entitled to any recovery should there be any for those claims.
IF YOU DO NOT RECEIVE THE COURT NOTICE, IT IS CRUCIAL THAT YOU CONTACT OUR LAW FIRM BECAUSE OUR LEGAL TEAM EXPECTS TO CERTIFY A SEPARATE CLAIM TO RECOVER ANY WAGES YOU MAY BE OWED.
You can also start your own lawsuit against Catholic Health System. You'll have to hire and likely pay your own lawyer for that lawsuit, and you'll have to prove your claims. If you do exclude yourself so you can start or continue your own lawsuit against Catholic Health System, you should talk to your own lawyer soon, because your claims may be subject to a statute of limitations for your Federal claims of two or potentially three years if the violations are found to be willful.
You would be one of a large number of employees whose consent forms are filed seeking back pay. Further, Catholic Health System is prohibited from taking any action against you should you join this lawsuit. Such conduct would also be illegal and you are entitled to additional damages should a court determine Catholic Health System took any action against you for joining this lawsuit.
The lawyers will handle most of the presentation of the case. From time-to-time, our legal team will ask you for information and you would need to give that information to them. If a lawsuit is filed, you may also be asked to answer questions from your employer’s attorney prior to trial for part of a day. Should there be a trial, some Plaintiffs may testify. Regardless, if you are asked to give information, the attorneys will work with you so that the process is as convenient for you as possible.
Not unless you hired a lawyer. The law firm of Thomas & Solomon LLP are the lawyers who have filed suit against Catholic Health System. They are experienced in handling similar cases against other employers. More information about the law firm, its practices, and its lawyers' experience is available at theemploymentattorneys.com.
Unless you choose another lawyer (see: Should I get my own Lawyer?), these attorneys would represent you in the action. That representation would only start once you have returned the consent form and that form is filed in court. You would not be represented by the lawyers before that. Once the form is filed, you would only be represented by these attorneys for the claims raised in the complaint in this case.
Not presently and not unless the following conditions are met. We can only be your lawyer if you submit your consent form, you qualify to participate, and it is filed with the court.
Thomas & Solomon LLP's representation of you would only start once you have decided to participate in a lawsuit, you were eligible and your consent form has been filed in court. You would not be represented by our legal team before that. If your consent form is filed with the court, you would only be represented by our legal team for the claims raised in the complaint in the case.
You do not need to hire your own lawyer if you and Thomas & Solomon LLP agree that our legal team should represent you, something that will occur only once you decide to participate in the lawsuit, and your consent form is filed with the court. If you want your own lawyer before then, or instead of Thomas & Solomon LLP, you will likely have to pay that lawyer. However, you can ask him or her to evaluate your case, file a complaint, or appear in court for you if you want someone other than Thomas & Solomon LLP to speak for you.
If our legal team gets money or benefits for the employees, they may ask the Court for fees and expenses. Typically, if a case settles a portion of the settlement is approved by the court as attorney fees. Costs of the lawsuit are also typically paid out of the settlement fund. These fees and costs reduce the amount the plaintiffs recover. In no case would you be asked to spend your own money for attorney fees or costs. You won't have to pay these fees and expenses out-of-pocket. If the Court grants the lawyers' request, the fees and expenses would be either deducted from any money obtained for the Class or paid separately by Catholic Health System. If there is no recovery you are not obligated to pay fees or costs.
If the Plaintiffs obtain money or benefits as a result of the trial or a settlement, you will be notified about how to participate.
On this website, the lawyers for the employees have put additional information about the case. You can also contact the Plaintiffs' attorneys at:
Hospital Overtime Class Action Lawsuits & Investigations
Thomas & Solomon LLP
693 East Avenue
Rochester, NY 14607
877.272.4066
Contact Us
Please note that merely contacting us does not create an attorney-client relationship.
