Third Circuit Affirms Dismissal Of FLSA Overtime Claims In Hospital Meal Break Cases

On August 26, the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit affirmed the District Court's dismissal of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) overtime claims brought against a myriad of health care systems and their affiliates in the Greater Philadelphia area.1 Pepper Hamilton LLP represents two of the defendants, Albert Einstein Healthcare Network and Abington Memorial Hospital, and their affiliates.

In November of 2009, Thomas & Solomon LLP, a plaintiffs' firm that has filed dozens of nearly identical cases around the country, alleged that area health care systems had failed to appropriately compensate their employees for all hours worked, in violation of the FLSA. In particular, the complaints alleged that the plaintiffs, nurses and other patient-care professionals, were not compensated properly when defendants maintained three unlawful timekeeping and pay polices: (1) a "Meal Break Deduction Policy," whereby plaintiffs allege that the defendants' timekeeping system automatically deducted 30 minutes of pay daily for meal breaks without ensuring that the employees actually received a break; (2) the "Unpaid Pre- and Post-Schedule Work Policy," whereby plaintiffs allege that the defendants prohibited employees from recording time...