Class Action Alleges Barton Associates Misclassified Healthcare Workers as Contractors, Owes Unpaid Overtime

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Barton Associates, Inc. faces a proposed class action that claims the healthcare staffing provider has deprived workers of overtime wages by misclassifying them as independent contractors.

The case charges that Barton has “knowingly, willfully and flagrantly” misclassified healthcare workers as contractors in order to avoid its obligations under California law to pay time-and-a-half overtime, taxes and insurance. The suit contends that Barton’s workers should be properly classified as employees, which would entitle them to time-and-a-half overtime pay and other protections such as meal and rest breaks.

“Barton has enriched itself at the expense of healthcare workers and the citizens of California,” the 12-page suit alleges.

The plaintiff is a licensed nurse practitioner who claims to have performed “substantial overtime” while working for Barton in Pomona, California. Although the plaintiff frequently put in more than eight hours per day and 40 hours per week, she was not paid at the proper overtime rate for those hours, the lawsuit alleges.

The case goes on to claim that the plaintiff and other healthcare workers were not provided with an off-duty meal break when they worked more than five hours or a second off-duty meal break when they worked more than 10 hours in a day. Workers were also deprived of a 10-minute rest period for two- to four-hour shifts, a second rest period for six- to eight-hour shifts and a third rest period for shifts lasting 10 hours or longer, according to the suit. Moreover, Barton allegedly failed to properly pay healthcare workers for any forfeited breaks.

Rounding out the complaint is the claim that Barton has willfully failed to timely pay wages either at the time of an employee’s separation from the company or within 72 hours of the end of their employment.

The case looks to cover anyone who was employed by Barton in California and classified as an independent contractor within the past four years and through trial.

Initially filed on January 11, 2022 in Los Angeles County Superior Court, the lawsuit was removed to California’s Central District Court on February 14.

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