Stanford Health Care agrees to pay nurses $10 million settlement in class action lawsuit
Stanford Health Care (SHC) agreed to pay $10 million in a class action lawsuit to resolve claims regarding the system’s failure to provide California nurses with meal breaks and pay meal period premiums.
The suit, which was backed by a group of over 100 nurses, alleged that SHC failed to ensure nurses received timely meal periods that were not shortened or skipped, pay meal premiums at the regular rate of pay and provide accurate wage statements. These failures, if accurately reported, would constitute noncompliance with California labor laws. SHC did not admit to any wrongdoing.
“There was no finding by the court that SHC did anything wrong or violated any laws or regulations,” SHC Chief Human Resources Officer Dawn Rorig wrote to The Daily. “SHC agreed to this settlement to avoid the disruption and expense caused by litigation and allow us to move forward and stay focused on our mission of delivering the highest quality patient care.”
Asefash Rivera, a nurse with SHC, filed the lawsuit on Dec. 2, 2024 at the Santa Clara County Superior Court. The deadline for exclusion or objection for the SHC lawsuit passed on Dec. 23, 2024.
“Plaintiff reports that she and her coworkers were often asked by managers to continue working after clocking out for their meal breaks,” Rivera’s complaint states.
The Daily has reached out to the lawyers who represented the plaintiffs.
SHC includes providers and care facilities throughout the Silicon Valley area. The system is part of Stanford Medicine, which encompasses Stanford’s School of Medicine, Stanford Children’s Health and SHC.
The settlement will go towards payouts for operating, peri- and post-operative, catheterization, laboratory, endoscopy, interventional radiology and procedure room nurses who worked for SHC on an hourly wage between March 4, 2018 and April 13, 2024. Class members will receive a payment based on the number of work weeks they completed during this time.
The final approval hearing for the suit will occur on March 27, when a judge will decide whether to formalize the proposed settlement between the plaintiffs and the defendant.
“While we believe in the strength of our defenses to the claims raised in this case, we are always seeking continued improvement,” Rorig said. “Going forward, we will continue to strengthen our meal period compliance training, policies, and procedures to ensure compliance with all legal requirements regarding meal period practices and related wage and hour issues more generally.”
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