Steadfast Medical Staffing 'willfully' misclassified workers and shortchanged their overtime pay, U.S. Department of Labor says.

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Steadfast Medical Staffing of Norfolk, Virginia, misclassified the workers as independent contractors to avoid overtime pay.

More than 1,000 nurses and aides were shortchanged by the staffing agency.

Back wages will be updated to the present, likely substantially increasing the dollar amount won.

A Norfolk, Virginia, medical staffing agency that intentionally denied more than 1,000 RNs, licensed practical nurses (LPNs), and certified nursing aides their rightfully earned overtime wages, has been ordered by a federal court to pay more than $7.2 million in back wages and liquidated damages.

The U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia-Norfolk Division ordered Medical Staffing of America LLC—doing business as Steadfast Medical Staffing—to pay at least $3,619,716 in back wages and at least $3,619,716 in liquidated damages to 1,105 employees, according to a press release from the U.S. Department of Labor.

The court ordered the department’s Solicitor of Labor to update the back wages to the present, which likely will increase the back wages and liquidated damages amounts substantially.

The action follows an investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division and litigation by the Solicitor of Labor.

The Department of Labor's Wage and Hour Division investigation determined that since at least August 18,...

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