Sacramento Mercy employees have filed a class action lawsuit against the hospital owner for allegedly denying meal and rest breaks. The lawsuit was filed in San Francisco Superior Court and seeks compensation for thousands of current and former nurses and medical technicians who worked for any one of Catholic Healthcare West's 42 state hospitals and medical centers from January 2004 until January 2008.
The class action claims employees were regularly required to work through their daily meal period without compensation. Under the law, workers must receive a 10 minute rest period every four hours and a 30 minute meal break for every five hours of work. Employers must compensate workers for one hour of pay everyday the law is violated.