MADERA, Calif. (KSEE/KGPE) – In a class action lawsuit filed against Valley Children’s Hospital in Madera County, the attorney representing plaintiffs in the civil suit claims employees, primarily nurses, were grossly underpaid minimum wage while on duty. He called this a violation of the law.
“In this case, it’s about nurses. The lead plaintiff is a nurse and was paid between $6 and $8 an hour to be on call. Which, as we allege in the lawsuit, violates the law. Nurses need to be paid at least minimum wage,” said attorney Brian Whelan.
Whelan says there are suspected hundreds of non-exempt nurses who have “suffered” with what he claims is illegally low on-call pay. His lawsuit, filed Friday, also claims that the hospital’s on-call time policy requires that nurses have to wait and be available to report to work within 30 minutes of being notified that they will be needed.
The lawyer says the allegations of low pay date back more than four years, time he says the law allows him to look for irregularities.
“My client has told me that this is something that has been going on for over four years. And when issues were raised with the hospital at various points, the hospital said, ‘Well, we think this is fair,'” Whelan said.
In response, Valley Children’s Hospital Public Relations Officer Zara Arboleda issued the following statement:
Valley Children’s Hospital has been informed of a possible class action lawsuit against the hospital. Valley Children’s Hospital strongly denies all allegations in the lawsuit and will defend itself against the claims in the litigation. To date, there has been no court ruling on the merit of any of the claims or the appropriateness of the class action lawsuit treatment. Because litigation is ongoing, the hospital cannot comment further at this time.
Zara Arboleda, Public Relations Officer at Valley Children’s Hospital.
Whelan says they don’t want a messy fight, but instead wants to work with the hospital to “right a wrong.”
“Valley Children’s is a great institution,” Whelan said. “Sometimes large institutions make mistakes. And this is one of those mistakes that needs to be corrected.”
Additionally, Fresno City Attorney Andrew Janz confirmed Wednesday that his new wage theft unit is also investigating possible violations at Valley Children’s Offices within the city of Fresno.
Valley Children’s Hospital could not comment on its office’s investigation.
