HAMMOND, Ind. — A lawsuit filed by a former Prompt Medical Transportation Inc. employee claims the company did not properly compensate workers for overtime, and indicates more than 100 EMTs may have been impacted over the past three years.
The federal suit filed by Steven Schroers names “all other similarly-situated employees,” and asks for court authorization to allow other employees to “opt-in” to the action by filing consent forms.
NWI.com reports the complaint claims the company’s policies:
- Required him to work as much as 10 hours per week “off the clock” for the last three years while inspecting, stocking and otherwise readying ambulances to respond to calls.
- Used a time clock system with a “snap” function that automatically rounded his time up, and down, to the beginning and end of his scheduled shifts — even when he worked longer than his scheduled shifts in most weeks.
- Maintaining a policy under which overtime was not paid to him unless it was “approved,” while at the same time requiring him to perform rig check work that he could not have performed during his regularly scheduled shifts.
- Failing to approve and pay compensation for overtime hours when he would call Merry and/or the human resources office that he had worked overtime.
Schroers’ lawsuit alleges the company violated the Fair Labor Standards Act and the Indiana Minimum Wage Law.
Jerry Miller, chief operations officer of Prompt Medical Transportation, did not comment on the lawsuit.