A Pulaski County circuit judge has partially certified the class-action status in a lawsuit against the Arkansas Department of Veterans Affairs over a group of veterans-home workers who say they are owed back pay for time they were forced to work off the clock.
Four hourly employees who worked in human resources, housekeeping or security at the former Arkansas Veterans Home in Little Rock or the Fayetteville Veterans Home since 2011 filed the lawsuit in February. The lawsuit states that the employees, who routinely worked more than 40 hours per week, were not paid for overtime hours. Though employees often worked through lunch, it states, the department automatically deducted lunchtime pay.
Dianne Mallett, who worked in human resources at the Fayetteville Veterans Home, is listed as one of the plaintiffs in the case. In an affidavit, Mallett said she often received complaints from employees about having to work through their lunches.
“I could not do anything about these complaints. I was an employee too and had to follow the practice adopted at the facility,” she said, according to the affidavit. “In fact, I was an hourly employee too, worked through my lunch almost every day, and was not paid for any of the time worked on my meal breaks.”
Though her regular work shift ends at 4:30 p.m., Mallett said, she often worked until 6 p.m. most days to complete her regular job duties.
The other three plaintiffs in the suit are Shawn Galmore, a housekeeper in Little Rock; Raida Bunche, housekeeping and security in Little Rock; and Joseph Fabits, security in Fayetteville. The suit claims as many as 100 workers were treated similarly and should be allowed to join a class-action complaint against the veterans agency.
In a response to the plaintiff’s motion for class-action status, the state’s attorney said the claims were too individualized and the class too broad. Class-action certification would “be unfair” to the agency and “raise grave due process concerns.”
The response, signed by Attorney General Dustin Mc-Daniel, states the department has a “fundamental right” to question each plaintiff about the amount of time the employee worked, the compensation sheets the employee may have submitted, the employee’s understandings of the agency’s procedures, interactions with supervisors and the extent of missed meal breaks.
McDaniel has argued that the suit be dismissed because the plaintiffs failed to follow the department’s policies and procedures regarding overtime.
He has said in an earlier court filing that the agency “acted in good faith” and the plaintiffs “failed to take advantage of remedial opportunities available in the employment setting, such as the grievance process.”
Circuit Judge Wendell Griffen filed an order Tuesday stating that he agreed with the plaintiff ’s request for class-action status regarding compensation for missed meal breaks. However, he did not grant class action treatment for their claim that they had to report early for work or stay late but weren’t allowed to work on the clock beyond the scheduled hours of their shifts.
Citing an Arkansas Department of Veterans Affairs policy that stipulates employees not arrive early or stay late without permission, a motion signed by Griffen states there must be individualized questions to decide whether the agency broke the law by not compensating employees for off-the-clock hours.
This is the second group of veterans-home workers who have made the same contentions against the department. Another lawsuit was filed in 2013 on behalf of nine nurses and nurse’s assistants, and Circuit Judge Chris Palmer certified class-action status of that lawsuit in July.
Both groups — represented by attorneys John Holleman, Maryna Jackson and Timothy Steadman of the Holleman and Associates firm in Little Rock — claim violations of the Arkansas Minimum Wage Act and are seeking back pay for overtime work plus double-compensatory damages with attorneys’ fees and court costs.
The nurses’ suit claims as many as 200 current and former employees are eligible.
Fabits, one of the plaintiffs in the most recent suit, said he was unable to take meal breaks and was not getting paid for that time, according to his signed affidavit.
He also contended that employees were forced to falsify time sheets. When an employee would write “no lunch” on a time sheet it was sent back by the administration to be changed, the affidavit states.
Fabits said he “complained” to Nadine Huddleston, the then-administrator, but “nothing was ever done.”
Metro on 11/28/2014