In the case of McCarthy v. Medicus Healthcare Solutions, LLC., James McCarthy filed a lawsuit against Medicus Healthcare Solutions (Medicus) for allegedly failing to pay him overtime wages. McCarthy brought this lawsuit on behalf of himself and other similarly situated individuals.
McCarthy was a physician recruiter who worked for Medicus. Medicus classified him as non-exempt and paid him a salary. However, McCarthy claimed that Medicus required him to work over 40 hours a week without providing proper overtime pay for those additional hours. McCarthy further alleged that Medicus knew about the requirement to pay overtime wages and failed to do so. Medicus kept records of approved overtime work and pay but did not document the additional “off-the-clock” hours worked by McCarthy and other recruiters.
Medicus filed a motion to dismiss the claims arguing that McCarthy’s allegations lacked sufficient facts to trigger the three-year statute of limitations. However, the court concluded that McCarthy had alleged enough facts to support a claim of a willful violation. Ultimately, the court denied Medicus’ motion to dismiss.
Key lessons from this case:
- Knowingly not providing overtime compensation to an employee can be deemed a willful violation of the FLSA.
- Employers who have willfully and knowingly violated the FLSA can be held liable for up to 3 years of overtime back wages.
- An employee needs to be aware of their employment contract and terms to further understand their rights to overtime pay.
If you want to know more about overtime regulations, read our guide on New Hampshire Overtime Laws.
