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Evidence of Unpaid Overtime and Refusal of Supervisors to Sign Overtime Approval Forms Ultimately Dooms Employer's Summary Judgment


Williams v. The Bethel Springvale Nursing Home - United States District Court, Southern District of New York


Facts:  Nicola Williams ("Williams") was employed by the Bethel Springvale Nursing Home ("Bethvale")  as a nurse.  Williams filed a collective action against Bethvale on the grounds that she (and other nurses) were subjected to working conditions in violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act ("FLSA").  Specifically, Williams alleged that she (and other nurses) were required to work overtime or through lunch breaks without being paid for the time worked.  Bethel apparently required all nurses that worked overtime to have overtime approval forms signed at the end of the given pay period.  However, supervisors at Bethel allegedly refused to sign the forms even when the nurses worked beyond their scheduled shifts and through meal breaks.

Bethel subsequently moved for summary judgment.

Holding:  In the case of motions for summary judgment, a court can grant the motion if the movant (in this case Bethel) shows there is no genuine issue of material fact.  Accordingly, Bethel bears the burden to establish, based upon evidence in the record, that no genuine issue of material fact exists.  Bethel could also prevail upon its motion if it established that Williams could not produce admissible evidence to support the existence of a material fact.

Based upon the evidence in the record, the Court held that sufficient evidence existed to establish a genuine issue of material fact as to the overtime and missed meal breaks claim brought by Williams.  In the pleadings, Williams had established that she (and other nurses) routinely worked beyond 40 hours in a week.   In particular, Williams had plead that Bethel instructed her (and other nurses) to clock out and go back to finish up work.  As well, it had been established that supervisors at Bethel had a "routine" of not signing the overtime slips produced by Williams (and other nurses). 

Judgment:  The District Court denied Bethel's motion for summary judgment as to the FLSA claims brought by Williams on the grounds that sufficient evidence had been plead to establish that Williams (and other nurses) routinely worked more than 40 hours a week or were "forced" to clock out and keep working, without being paid overtime or for the total time worked.

The Takeaway:  As always, just because a judge denies a motion for summary judgment, that does not necessarily shed light on how the case will ultimately be decided.  In this case, as with many, the Court found that sufficient evidence had been plead to establish the existence of a genuine issue of material fact such that a jury would hear the matter.  Based upon the facts plead and the Court's concise analysis, I think they got it right in this instance:  there was evidence that Williams (and other nurses) often worked more than 40 hours a week but were not paid overtime, were required to clock out but return to work without recording their hours worked, and supervisors at Bethel refused to sign overtime approval forms.  In light of this evidence in the record, there were sufficient grounds for the Court to deny Bethel's motion for summary judgment and allow the case to proceed to a jury.

Majority Opinion Judge:  Judge Roman

Date:  September 12, 2017

Opinion:  http://hr.cch.com/eld/WilliamsBethel091217.pdf

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