Lawsuit Alleges Northeast Georgia Health System Owes Unpaid Wages for Work Done During ‘Meal Breaks’

New to ClassAction.org? Read our Newswire Disclaimer

The plaintiff is a current Northeast Georgia Health System respiratory therapist (RT), the lawsuit says. The man claims he and those similarly situated are supposed to be given a 30-minute meal break per shift for which they do not clock in and out of the defendant’s timekeeping system. Per the lawsuit, the defendant’s medical caregivers are required to carry a duty cell phone during these supposed meal breaks and remain on call. From the complaint:

[The plaintiff] and his co-workers rarely took a full 30-minute lunch break. Usually [the plaintiff] and similarly situated employees go to the on-site cafeteria and pick up food to bring back to the unit and eat the meal while continuing to provide medical service to the patients on the unit, whether actively or inactively. The Plaintiff and the other RTs assigned to the therapy unit generally took their breaks on the unit, as well. All Respiratory Therapists are expected not to leave the hospital premises for meal breaks. And on information and belief, none ever do because of the incessant work required during the alleged break periods.”

The case rounds out in alleging the defendant’s supervisors are well aware that the plaintiff and his co-workers work through meal breaks without compensation yet have “made no efforts” to ensure the workers get to take uninterrupted breaks.

“Supervisors are not only aware of the uncompensated work,” the lawsuit charges, “they are also the cause of the work because they themselves frequently and predictably call the RTs during the alleged meal breaks.”