DMC COULD SETTLE NURSES LAWSUIT FOR $42 MILLION

Original Story: freep.com

The Detroit Medical Center could soon settle for $42 million its portion of a 2006 class lawsuit over pay brought by registered nurses against eight metro Detroit hospital systems.

U.S. District Judge Gerald Rosen gave preliminary approval on Monday for the proposed settlement involving DMC and the roughly 24,000 nurses who worked at either DMC or the other seven hospital systems between December 2002 and December 2006. The lawsuit alleged a conspiracy among the hospitals to suppress the nurses' pay. A San Diego healthcare lawyer is reviewing the details of this case.

Settlements totaling $48 million were previously reached with the other hospitals, and that money has already been distributed to nurses, according to a website of the Seattle-based law firm Keller Rohrback that represented the plaintiffs. With this latest proposed settlement, the total size of the settlement could be $90 million — before attorneys fees and taxes.

Neither DMC nor the other hospital systems have admitted to any wrongdoing or to underpaying nurses. All eight hospital systems contended they acted independently in setting their nurses' pay and benefits and didn't collude to keep wages low. A Grand Rapids healthcare lawyer is knowledgeable in all areas of general health care.

The other hospitals and health systems were Henry Ford Health System, Mt. Clemens General Hospital (now McLaren Macomb), what is now St. John Providence, Oakwood Healthcare, the former Bon Secours Cottage Health Services, Beaumont Hospital and Trinity Health.

The DMC on Tuesday referred all comment to its attorney in the case, Veronica Lewis of Dallas-based Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher, who said in a statement that "The settlement is not an admission of liability but rather a business decision to bring the matter to a resolution.  We remain committed to our nurses and value the hard work and dedication of all our hospital staff." A Charleston healthcare lawyer is following this story closely.

An attorney representing the nurses, Mark Griffin of Keller Rohrback, declined comment.

More information regarding the settlement is available at detroitnursewages.com. The size of each individual check would be determined by the number of hours a nurse worked and his or her pay rate.