Slaughter v. Caidan Mgmt. Co.

317 F. Supp. 3d 981
District Court, E.D. Illinois·Decided July 5, 2018·No. No. 17–cv–5846·Published·Cited by 22 cases

Opinion

Jeffrey T. Gilbert, United States Magistrate Judge

Plaintiff Kimberly Slaughter ("Plaintiff"), on behalf of herself and others similarly situated, has moved for conditional certification of a collective action in this case brought under the Fair Labor Standards Act, 29 U.S.C. § 201 et seq. (the "FLSA"), and for authorization to issue notice to the putative members of the conditionally certified collective action. Plaintiffs' Motion for Step-One Notice pursuant to 29 U.S.C. § 216(b) ("Plaintiffs' Motion"), [ECF No. 39]. Defendant Caidan Management Company, LLC ("Defendant") opposes the conditional certification of a collective action and some of Plaintiff's proposals regarding the issuance of notice. Defendant's Opposition to Plaintiff's Motion for Conditional Class Certification and Court Authorized Notice ("Defendant's Response"), [ECF No. 48]. For the reasons stated below, Plaintiffs' Motion [ECF No. 39] is granted in part and denied in part.

BACKGROUND

Defendant provides staffing and other administrative services to healthcare companies, including Meridian Health Plan of Michigan, Inc. ("MHPMI") and Meridian Health Plan of Illinois, Inc. ("MHPIL"). Defendant's Response, [ECF No. 48], at 2. MHPMI and MHPIL offer products to Medicaid, Medicare, and Healthcare Exchange members in Michigan and Illinois, respectively. Id. Plaintiff began working as a Community Care Coordinator for Defendant in approximately August 2014.1 Slaughter Declaration, [ECF No. 40-11], ¶ 1. According to Plaintiff, her primary job duties as a Care Coordinator or Community Care Coordinator consisted of: (1) asking members standardized questions to collect data for assessments; (2) inputting *987answers to those questions into Defendant's computer system; (3) coordinating care by performing such ministerial tasks as arranging appointments, referrals, and obtaining necessary authorizations from members; and (4) supplying members with additional information and resources to educate members concerning their health plan needs. First Amended Complaint, [ECF No. 18], ¶ 18.

Plaintiff and eighteen other opt-in plaintiffs or potential opt-in plaintiffs2 have submitted declarations in support of this Motion. These individuals are current and former care management employees ("CMEs") of Defendant who performed utilization management and/or core coordination job functions, with varying job titles such as: Care Coordinator, Community Care Coordinator, Utilization Care Coordinator, Community Health Outreach Worker, Care Coordinator Support Specialist, Medicare Benefit Care Coordinator, and Inpatient Review Nurse. Pl's Exs. B-T, each at ¶¶ 1, 2. These declarants state that, as CMEs, they performed five primary core duties: (1) communicate with and gather data from members to document members' medical circumstances in Defendant's computer system ("Data Collection"); (2) input member data into Defendant's computer system ("Data Entry"); (3) use established guidelines to maximize utilization of plan resources through application of predetermined criteria ("Care Utilization:); (4) provide information to members and providers regarding plan benefits and resources to address members healthcare needs ("Plan Education"); and (5) work with members and providers to set up medical care ("Care Coordination"). Id. at ¶ 1.

Plaintiff and the other declarants state they regularly worked more than 40 hours per week and that they were paid a salary, but not any overtime compensation. Id. at ¶ 4. Each says that he or she performed his or her work as a CME "in accordance with Defendant's policies, procedures, guidelines, and guidelines embedded in Defendant's computer software," and "could not deviate from these guidelines to perform [his or her] work, and, under no circumstance, had the authority to deny a member's request for a service or benefit." Id. at ¶ 3. Finally, these declarants state that, based on their experience working for Defendant, conversations with other CMEs, and attendance through training calls or webinars, Defendant has employed "several hundred" CMEs in Michigan and Illinois that work or have worked under the same or similar conditions. Id. at ¶ 5. Specifically, the declarants say these individuals performed similar work, performed similar hours, were classified as exempt from overtime, were paid a salary, and never received overtime pay for their overtime work. Id.

Defendant disputes that all CMEs perform the same common, core job duties and argues that Plaintiffs have failed to identify a common policy or plan to which all potential plaintiffs fell "victim." Further, Defendant contends that Plaintiffs have included positions in their putative collective that are not even categorized as exempt, or that were in fact paid overtime.

LEGAL STANDARD

"Under Section 216(b) of the FLSA, employees may bring a collective action on behalf of themselves and other 'similarly situated' employees against employers who violate the Act's minimum wage or overtime provisions."

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Slaughter v. Caidan Mgmt. Co., 317 F. Supp. 3d 981 (illinoised 2018).

317 F. Supp. 3d 981 (Slaughter v. Caidan Mgmt. Co.) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

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