BJC Cardiac Surgery Exempt Employee
Class Action Information Page

        The purpose of this communication is to help inform all of my BJC cardiac surgery colleagues about a class action lawsuit that I filed on August 22, 2017 against BJC Healthcare (BJC), on behalf of current and former Perfusionist  and Registered Nurse First Assistant (RNFA) members of the Cardiac Surgery teams at Barnes-Jewish, Children’s, Christian, Missouri Baptist and Boone. This suit concerns allegations regarding BJC’s long time failure to comply with its own well-established corporate compensation policies, primarily about call pay for “exempt” (salaried) employees.   

        To first clarify some misconceptions, the Federal Labor Standards Act (FLSA) provides extensive rules to help ensure fair treatment of non-exempt (hourly wage) employees, however most of these protections do not apply to exempt employees. Federal laws do dictate a minimum salary level employers must pay exempt employees, similar to minimum hourly wage. But most importantly here is the fact that there are no legal restrictions regarding either the form or amount of additional compensation employers can opt to pay exempt employees over and above their annual base salary. Such additional compensation may also be paid on any basis – flat sum, bonuses, straight-time hourly amount, time and one-half, etc. – and may include paid time off.    

          As you all know, our respective cardiac surgery services each require having one or more call teams available 24/7 due to the relative high incidence of call backs for urgent and emergent procedures. Likewise, our cardiac surgery case schedules are inherently subject to last minute revisions and add-ons as patient dynamics change, which also result in frequent demands for overtime.  

           BJC’s long-standing compensation policies currently do not provide exempt employees with any additional compensation for overtime – regardless of how many extra hours are worked in any given day or pay period.  While excessive overtime can naturally create stress for any employee, this policy is not a point of dispute in this suit.    

            Emergency call requirements entail significant sacrifice of personal freedom and/or family time, even beyond other daily work demands.  BJC’s On-Call policy states that all employees who are scheduled on call are eligible to receive on-call pay ($2.50/hour). BJC’s Call-Back policy further indicates the call-back pay rate for exempt employees is equivalent to a 50% premium above the employee’s normal base salary pay rate (similar to an hourly employee’s rate of time and one-half).

           Unfortunately, and for reasons unclear, the exempt Perfusion and RNFA team members at each BJC cardiac surgery program have consistently been denied the full amount of compensation that these policies allow. (Apparently some sporadic forms of extra compensation were provided to some select groups in the past.)   

           Virtually all healthcare professionals I know have great passion for their work and are committed to providing the highest level of patient care under any circumstances. Nonetheless, few things are more fundamental to any employer-employee relationship than terms of compensation. All employees have the basic right to be treated fairly and to be properly compensated for their work consistent with established policies.   

           This past June it appears BJC finally began paying exempt team members for their call, but indicated back pay would be limited only to work done since May 28, 2017.  (In addition, some previously exempt RNFAs have been converted to non-exempt status.) This seemingly arbitrary cut-off date falls far short of what the law allows and BJC's policies require. As a result, a class action suit has been filed to help these current and former hard-working employees recover long-overdue compensation, plus respective pension and benefit adjustments.   

           Please be aware that class action lawsuits are complex and may require significant time for resolution. It is meanwhile important for potential class members to know that any form of retaliation by their employer or management related to this lawsuit would be unlawful. Retaliation could range from subtle pressure to stay out of the class, to overt action in retribution for any perceived involvement.     

          If you experience such retaliation, please promptly inform the proper BJC compliance officer in management and also myself, Jeanne Rhoades, as class representative and plaintiff. You may direct such notice to me via this website or this email address:  jrhoades.classaction@gmail.com 

         Please do not contact class counsel or the court unless and until directed otherwise.  

Jeanne Rhoades 

Certified Clinical Perfusionist   

THIS COMMUNICATION CONTAINS MY OPINIONS. IT IS NOT LEGAL ADVICE AND IT IS NOT AN OFFICIAL COMMUNICATION FROM THE COURT REGARDING THE LAWSUIT.