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Providence Health and Services must pay workers more than $200 million as a result of a class-action lawsuit.
A King County jury on Thursday reached a verdict finding Providence owed workers $9.3 million due to unfair time clock rounding and $90.3 million for unpaid meal breaks. King County Judge Averil Rothrock in January found the hospital systems' violations to be willful, doubling the penalty, and interest pushed the total over $200 million.
The jury found some workers had waived their unpaid meals, meaning Providence wasn't responsible for $1.3 million of the total.
"It’s an enormous verdict, and a good day for health care workers in Washington. The result sends a message to health care corporations that if you willfully withhold wages from your employees, the justice system will hold you accountable," Jason Rittereiser, attorney for the plaintiffs, said in a statement.
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At issue was the way Providence rounded its hourly workers' clock-in and clock-out times. Providence rounded employees' time to the nearest 15-minute increment. If an employee clocked in at 6:53 a.m., for example, the system rounded it to 7 a.m. Although this could theoretically work in employees' favor in some instances, for example if an employee clocked in at 6:52 a.m. and got credit for clocking in at 6:45 a.m., the lawsuit alleged Providence had policies in place to discourage the system from helping employees.
Rothrock wrote in a January summary judgment the system "systematically favors Providence and results in underpayment of class members."
The second part of the lawsuit concerned employees who worked shifts longer than 10.5 hours. These employees are required to have two 30-minute meal breaks, which are deducted from their pay. The lawsuit alleged Providence withheld the second meal break, in turn stripping employees of pay.
The lawsuit was first filed in 2021.
"The Providence family of organizations values their employees/caregivers and remains committed to providing them comprehensive, competitive pay and benefits," a Providence spokesperson said in a statement. "We disagree with plaintiffs’ claims that some Providence hospitals in Washington failed to provide appropriate compensation to caregivers. ... This case presented several new and complex wage and hour issues that are not addressed in Washington statutes or by the Washington Courts of Appeal. Along with other employers also seeking clarity on these Washington wage and hour issues, we intend to appeal this result."
Providence, which is affiliated with Swedish Health Services, already must refund or forgive almost $158 million in care to Washington patients after an investigation from Washington state Attorney General Bob Ferguson's office. The case alleged Providence denied charity care to eligible patients.
The health system has 51 hospitals and 122,000 caregivers. Providence operates in Alaska, California, Montana, New Mexico, Oregon, Texas and Washington.
