The University of Iowa owes damages to as many as 11,000 current and former health care workers for delays in paying overtime and other compensation, a federal judge ruled Tuesday.
It's not clear how much the university will owe the workers, some of them highly paid, but an attorney representing them said the amount could be substantial.
Representatives of the Iowa Board of Regents and University of Iowa Health Care declined to comment on the decision.
The ruling came on a motion for summary judgment in a lawsuit that has been working its way through the courts since 2019. The class-action case was filed on behalf of both health care and support services employees who have worked for the University of Iowa Hospitals & Clinics since fall 2017.
There are three key claims: that the health system violated Iowa law by paying overtime and other bonuses more than a month after they were accrued; that the system similarly waited too long to pay out vacation and other accrued leave to departing employees; and that the practice of late overtime payments violated the federal Fair Labor Standards Act.
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The district court had previously agreed to certify all three claims as class actions, ruling that the health system did not have immunity from the fair labor standards claim. The state has appealed that ruling, and the U.S. 8th Circuit Court of Appeals has not yet issued a decision.
Meanwhile, the plaintiff employees filed the motion for summary judgment, arguing that there were no disputed facts that could favor the university.
It's not clear how much the university will owe the workers, some of them highly paid, but an attorney representing them said the amount could be substantial.
Representatives of the Iowa Board of Regents and University of Iowa Health Care declined to comment on the decision.
The ruling came on a motion for summary judgment in a lawsuit that has been working its way through the courts since 2019. The class-action case was filed on behalf of both health care and support services employees who have worked for the University of Iowa Hospitals & Clinics since fall 2017.
There are three key claims: that the health system violated Iowa law by paying overtime and other bonuses more than a month after they were accrued; that the system similarly waited too long to pay out vacation and other accrued leave to departing employees; and that the practice of late overtime payments violated the federal Fair Labor Standards Act.
For subscribers:Women systemically underpaid in Iowa State agronomy department, retired professor says in lawsuit
The district court had previously agreed to certify all three claims as class actions, ruling that the health system did not have immunity from the fair labor standards claim. The state has appealed that ruling, and the U.S. 8th Circuit Court of Appeals has not yet issued a decision.
Meanwhile, the plaintiff employees filed the motion for summary judgment, arguing that there were no disputed facts that could favor the university.
University of Iowa hospitals owe damages for delayed overtime pay, federal judge rules
Health system's longtime practice of paying overtime a month after the original pay period violated Iowa law, federal judge rules
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