From: Green Valley News & Sun
By: Dan Shearer
Published: August 9, 2022
Laid off employees at Santa Cruz Valley Regional Hospital have filed a class action lawsuit seeking unpaid wages, benefits, and other work-related compensation and alleging violation of the federal WARN Act.
The lawsuit, filed Thursday in U.S. District Court in Arizona, lists the hospital as defendant and comes three weeks after officials abruptly informed employees they no longer had jobs and wouldn’t see an extra month of promised compensation.
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[The complaint] alleges the hospital laid off employees July 22 with one day’s notice despite a commitment “to keep them employed until August 20, 2022, and pay out their unused, earned paid time off (‘PTO’) upon termination, neither of which it did.”
The lawsuit seeks unpaid wages, salary, commissions, bonuses, accrued holiday and vacation pay and 401(k) contributions and other COBRA benefits for 60 days that would have been covered and paid under the WARN Act.
It also seeks a judgment equal to triple the amount of unpaid wages in accordance with state statute, and wants the plaintiff’s attorneys fees and other costs paid.
A legal complaint in this type of case lays out the plaintiff’s case and request for relief. It is then served on defendants, who have an opportunity to respond before the lawsuit moves forward.
The 10-page complaint was filed by Tucson attorney Kasey C. Nye and New York attorneys René S. Roupinian and Jack A. Raisner.
The 49-bed Santa Cruz Valley Regional Hospital was operated by Lateral Investment Management LLC, a San Mateo, California, investment firm. The doors closed to patients June 30, but employees were told to still come to work. According to the complaint, employees were sent home early and weren’t paid for the entire day, adding to the loss of wages.
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