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Member, Beacon International Group, Ltd.
INDIANAPOLIS--Insurer WellPoint Inc. faces a lawsuit charging that it failed to pay overtime to former and current nurses in violation of state and federal labor laws.
Nurses performing utilization review, case management or medical management functions in Indianapolis-based WellPoint's call centers regularly worked more than 40 hours without overtime compensation, according to the complaint, filed last week in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of New York.
By failing to properly document and compensate the nurses for overtime work, the insurer violated the federal Fair Labor Standards Act, according to the suit, which seeks class action status. The company also allegedly violated the New York Labor Law, which requires employers to pay overtime compensation to all nonexempt employees.
The complaint seeks a declaratory judgment that the practices are unlawful, an injunction to prevent further violations, damages, costs and attorney fees. Rachhana Srey, an attorney at Nichols, Kaster & Anderson P.L.L.P. in Minneapolis who is representing the nurses, said the firm does not yet have an estimate of national class members and total damages. At least 100 current and former employees of WellPoint located in New York would be part of the proposed class, and damages for this group are estimated to exceed $5 million, according to the complaint.
A WellPoint spokesman said the company has not been served with a lawsuit and would not comment until it has been reviewed.