A federal judge on March 29 ruled that University of Iowa hospitals owe damages to healthcare workers for delayed overtime pay, according to the Des Moines Register.
The decision covers as many as 11,000 current and former healthcare workers for delays in paying overtime and other compensation, according to the newspaper.
The ruling stems from a lawsuit filed in August 2019 by two nurses and a physical therapist. On May 17, 2021, the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Iowa granted the lawsuit class-action status. And on March 29, Stephanie Rose, chief judge of the district court, issued an order in response to plaintiffs' motion for partial summary judgment in the lawsuit.
Healthcare and support services employees who have worked for Iowa City-based University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics argued that university hospitals violated the Iowa Wage Payment Collection Law by intentionally paying overtime and other bonuses more than a month later than required by statute, according to court documents posted by the Des Moines Register. The workers also argued that university hospitals intentionally did not pay out vacation and sick benefits to departing employees in a timely manner.
The federal judge ruled in favor of the workers regarding the overtime question but ruled in favor of the university regarding the pay to departing workers, according to the Des Moines Register. The university had reportedly argued that employees had agreed to the delayed pay system.
Attorney Nate Willems, representing the plaintiffs, told the newspaper the amount the university will owe the workers is unclear, but "we believe the liquidated damages would be the amount of the delayed wages."
Laura Shoemaker, a spokesperson for University of Iowa Health Care, told Becker's the health system's legal team has received the summary judgment.
"They are currently in the process of reviewing it and have no further comment," she said.