Berger Montague: Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Florida, Inc. to Pay Utilization Review Nurse Twenty-Five Thousand Dollars for Overtime Claim

PHILADELPHIA, Jan. 8, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Nichols Kaster, PLLP and Berger Montague PC announce that Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Florida, Inc., GuideWell Mutual Holding Corporation, and Health Options Inc. (collectively, Defendants) have paid $25,000.00 to a former Concurrent Review Nurse for unpaid overtime wages. 

The nurse filed a lawsuit on September 4, 2020, in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida, Riviere v. Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Florida, Inc., et al., No. 1:20-cv-23709-CMA (S.D. Fla.), alleging that Defendants violated the federal Fair Labor Standards Act ("FLSA") by misclassifying her and other utilization review nurses as exempt and not paying additional compensation for their overtime hours worked. Defendants denied liability but offered to have judgment entered against them and agreed to pay $25,000.00 to the named plaintiff, plus reasonable attorneys' fees and costs. Judgment was entered against Defendants on January 6, 2021. 

The plaintiff is represented by Rachhana T. Srey and Caroline E. Bressman of Nichols Kaster, PLLP, Camille Fundora Rodriguez of Berger Montage PC, and Janet R. Varnell of Varnell & Warwick.

According to plaintiff's attorney Rachhana T. Srey: "While Defendants deny liability, I believe that Florida Blue offered the plaintiff substantial money to settle and dismiss her individual claim in an effort to avoid paying utilization review nurses overtime pay that the nurses believe they earned. We strongly believe that there are other Florida Blue utilization review nurses who have been underpaid and are entitled to their overtime back wages."

The firms representing the plaintiff have extensive experience in litigating wage and hour cases, including misclassification of utilization review (concurrent, precertification, retrospective) nurses from the overtime protections of the FLSA and state law.

Additional information about the firms are located on their websites, www.nka.com and www.bergermontague.com, or may be obtained by contacting Nichols Kaster, PLLP at (612) 256-3238 or at [email protected], or contacting Berger Montague PC at (215) 875-3033 or at [email protected].

Contact
Stefana Klipa
Case Intake Analyst
Berger Montague PC
(215) 875-3033
[email protected]

SOURCE Berger Montague