North Memorial EMT Files Putative Class and Collective Action for Minimum Wage and Overtime Pay

    MINNEAPOLIS, MN, June 22, 2023 /24-7PressRelease/ -- On June 14, 2023, a former North Memorial Health Care ("North Memorial") employee initiated a lawsuit alleging that the company failed to pay its emergency medical technicians (EMTs) and paramedics the minimum wages and overtime compensation they were entitled to under federal and state laws.

The Complaint alleges North Memorial's unlawful pay practice failed to pay its EMTs and paramedics properly for the time they were required to work on-call hours. Specifically, the Complaint alleges that EMTs and paramedics were required to work under restrictive conditions when on-call, so much so that they could not effectively use on-call time for personal purposes. Despite these restrictions, North Memorial compensated Plaintiff and other similarly situated EMTs and paramedics below Minnesota's required minimum hourly wage for on-call hours. The Complaint alleges the company also failed to pay proper overtime compensation by excluding these on-call hours as hours worked in its calculation of weekly overtime.

According to the Complaint, these unlawful pay practices occurred through approximately April 2022, at which time North Memorial began paying minimum wage for on-call hours worked and factoring on-call hours into the weekly total of hours worked for purposes of determining overtime pay. The lawsuit is filed as a putative collective action under the federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) and putative class action under Minnesota law. The action seeks to recover damages within the applicable statutory period, including unpaid minimum wages, overtime compensation, liquidated (double) damages, and other damages/penalties recoverable under state law.

The Plaintiff's attorneys, Reena I. Desai of Nichols Kaster, PLLP, explained, "North Memorial appears to have fixed their practice of not properly paying EMTs/paramedics for their on-call hours worked beginning April 2022, but has not yet remedied the years of unpaid wages due to Plaintiff and others in a similar position prior to their change in practice. We look forward to recovering these unpaid wages."

North Memorial operates approximately 27 specialty and primary care clinics, two hospitals, provides medical transportation services, and offers home care services. It serves eight ambulance regions across Minnesota and western Wisconsin, ranging from urban to remote rural communities.

The Plaintiff is represented by Reena I. Desai from Nichols Kaster, PLLP in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The case is Johnson v. North Memorial Health Care, Case No.: 0-23-cv-01780 (District of Minnesota). Additional information about how to join the case may be found at www.nka.com or by calling (612) 256-3266.

Nichols Kaster, PLLP, an employee, consumer, and civil rights firm has dedicated over 45 years to fighting for clients in individual and class action matters. With offices in Minneapolis, Minnesota and San Francisco, California, the firm is perfectly situated for the work it does representing plaintiffs in cases across the country. The firm has recently received a First Tier ranking on the 2023 Best Law Firms List in Minneapolis for Litigation-Labor and Employment by U.S. News-Best Lawyers® "Best Law Firms."

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