HCA Healthcare Can’t Shake Claims of Work During Unpaid Breaks

HCA Healthcare Inc. must face a proposed overtime wage collective action brought by workers who plausibly alleged they were employed by the healthcare facility operator, a federal judge ruled.

The plaintiffs, a registered nurse and patient care technician employed by a HCA subsidiary, say that the company deducted 30 minutes from their time—ostensibly for a lunch break even though they allege they had to be available for work at all times, including during unpaid meal breaks. HCA sought to dismiss the complaint against it and a subsidiary in the US District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee, arguing ...