Tennova Healthcare Hospitals in Tennessee Owe Employees Unpaid Wages, Lawsuits Claim

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Seven proposed class and collective actions allege the operator of Tennova Healthcare has failed to properly pay employees at its Tennessee hospitals for off-the-clock work performed during unpaid meal breaks.

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The lawsuits, which were originally filed in November 2021 as one consolidated case until the court ordered them severed in December 2023, are each lodged against defendant Community Health Systems and their respective Tennova Healthcare hospital locations, including: 

• Jefferson Memorial Hospital;
• LaFollette Medical Center;
• Newport Medical Center;
• North Knoxville Medical Center;
• Tennova Healthcare – Clarksville;
• Tennova Healthcare – Cleveland; and
• Turkey Creek Medical Center.

According to the near-identical cases, the defendants automatically deduct 30 minutes of pay from certain hourly employees’ daily wages for a meal break. However, the complaints explain that the hospital workers are required to remain on duty, interruptible and responsive to the needs of their assigned patients at all times—even during meal periods.

As a result, the workers are “rarely” able to take a full, undisturbed break and must continue to care for patients while off the clock, the suits allege.

“In other words, for each 3-day workweek, Defendants deducted (and continue to deduct) a minimum of 1.5 hours from each workweek’s total ‘on-the-clock’ hours,” the filings say. “For a 5-day workweek, Defendants deducted (and continue to deduct) a minimum of 2.5 hours from each workweek’s total ‘on-the-clock’ hours.”

The suits claim that the defendants, by automatically taking 30 minutes’ worth of wages from employees’ paychecks each day, have failed to properly compensate the workers for every hour worked, in violation of state and federal labor laws.

In addition, the hospitals’ allegedly illegal pay practices have deprived employees of proper overtime wages, the cases say. Under state and federal law, the hospitals must pay hourly, non-exempt employees time-and-a-half wages for every hour worked over 40 per week, the lawsuits explain. Although the care providers “routinely” clock more than 40 hours each week, the defendants’ failure to account for every hour employees work has caused them to miscalculate workers’ overtime compensation, the filings contend.

The proposed collective action/class action lawsuits look to represent any hourly employees who, since November 17, 2015, provided direct patient care to patients/clients of any of the hospitals listed above and were subject to an automatic meal-break deduction.

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