Steffans Legal LLC and Connor & Morneau LLP have filed a class action lawsuit in Springfield, Massachusetts on behalf of current and former licensed practical nurses (LPNs) either currently or formerly employed by Berkshire Health Systems.  The lawsuit claims that Berkshire Health Systems repeatedly violated a variety of Massachusetts and federal wage-and-hour laws in connection with how it paid its LPNs.  

According to the lawsuit, which is seeking class action and collective action status, Berkshire Health Systems repeatedly required licensed practical nurses to work over their meal break without compensation in violation of Massachusetts and federal wage-and-hour laws.  This violation was a result of Berkshire Health Systems’s use of a timekeeping policy that automatically deducted 30-minutes from LPN’s daily working hours under the assumption that those LPNs always took an uninterrupted meal break.  The lawsuit alleges that the nurses rarely took an uninterrupted meal break, but still had that time automatically deducted, resulting in them not being paid for all hours worked. 

The lawsuit seeks unpaid compensation, statutory damages, penalties, attorneys’ fees, and costs on behalf of the LPNs that worked or currently work at any BHS facility, including the Berkshire Medical Center, Fairview Hospital, BMC Hillcrest Campus, North Adams Campus of BMC, and in various physician practices.

If you would like to learn more about this class action, including how you may have been impacted by these payment practices, please contact us today.