Melinda Liddle has filed a class and collective action lawsuit against Salem Township Hospital in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Illinois, East St. Louis Division. The case, with ID 3:24-cv-01246, was filed on May 7, 2024.
Often during their weekly work weeks many nurses and technicians worked over their scheduled 40 hour work weeks. Liddle alleges that the hospital failed to pay her and other similarly situated employees time-and-a-half for all hours worked over 40 during each seven-day work week, violating the Fair Labor Standards Act and the Portal-to-Portal Act.
Additionally, she accuses the hospital of breaching the Illinois Minimum Wage Law by automatically deducting a thirty-minute period from every shift worked by nurse/technician employees, despite them often missing meal periods or having them interrupted due to various work demands.
The plaintiff believes that these were tactics to keep the labor costs low and to increase the benefits of hospital. She also believes that they purposefully did not hire a sufficient amount of nurses and technicians to allow for these breaks to be taken fully and uninterrupted.
The plaintiff is seeking all damages available under federal and state law. This includes back wages, liquidated damages, punitive damages, legal fees, costs, pre- and post-judgment interest, as well as any other remedies they may be entitled to.