Stanford Health Care Hourly Nurse Settlement: $10M

Current and former hourly nurses in these roles at Stanford Health Care in California during the eligibility period:

• Operating room nurses
• Peri-operative and post-operative nurses
• Catheterization laboratory nurses
• Endoscopy nurses
• Interventional radiology nurses
• Procedure room nurses

Not required. Payments will be issued automatically to eligible individuals.

Stanford Health Care has agreed to pay $10 million to settle claims that it violated California labor laws, failing to provide nurses with the basic rights they’re entitled to under state law.

The lawsuit claims that Stanford Health Care:

• Denied Meal Breaks: Nurses were not given proper, uninterrupted meal periods during their shifts.
  
  
• Missed Meal Premiums: When these meal breaks didn’t happen, Stanford allegedly failed to pay the required premiums to make up for the missed breaks.
  
  
• Shortchanged Wages: Even when Stanford did pay premiums, they reportedly weren’t calculated correctly, excluding overtime and other forms of additional pay nurses earned.
  
  
• Provided Inaccurate Wage Statements: Pay stubs allegedly didn’t reflect the actual compensation nurses were owed, leaving them in the dark about missing wages.

These issues violated California labor laws that are designed to protect workers. The nurses who filed this lawsuit argued that Stanford Health Care’s practices caused them financial harm and disregarded their rights.

While Stanford denies these allegations, the health system agreed to settle to avoid a drawn-out legal battle.

What Does the Settlement Offer?

1. Cash Payments:

   • Eligible nurses will automatically receive a portion of the $10 million fund.
   • The exact payment will depend on how many weeks a nurse worked during the covered time frame.

2. Penalties to the State:

   • $180,000 of the settlement will go to California’s Labor and Workforce Development Agency as part of the resolution.

3. No Claim Form Needed:

   • If you’re eligible, you don’t need to do anything to get your payment. It will be sent to you automatically after the settlement is finalized.

This settlement is about holding employers accountable for following the law and treating their staff fairly. If you worked as a nurse at Stanford Health Care during the covered period, your payment will be sent to you automatically unless you opt out.