(Update: Cease-and-desist letter)
Ransomware attack cut off access for 2 months: nurses, others dismayed, may seek legal action
BEND, Ore. (KTVZ) – A ransomware attack on a global timekeeping and scheduling provider cut off St. Charles Health System’s access to timecard data for nearly two months, and the repercussions of that outage are starting to hit workers in the wallet, as the organization calls on them to repay $2 million in overpayments.
The nurses' union has fired back, demanding an end to such efforts and threatening legal action if the payment demands they said are illegal are not withdrawn.
The attack on Ultimate Kronos Group left St. Charles unable to access timecard data from Nov. 28, 2021, to Jan. 22 of this year, St. Charles Public Information and Government Affairs Officer Lisa Goodman told NewsChannel 21 Thursday when we inquired about the issue reported to us by some employees.
Here's how Goodman described what occurred as a result:
"During the outage, we did our best to pay people as accurately as possible for the time they worked, based on the hours they reported. One of the unfortunate impacts of the outage was that some of our employees were underpaid, and some were overpaid.
"Over the last several months, we have focused our efforts on making financially whole those employees who were underpaid. We’re now at the point where we need to recoup the $2 million that was overpaid.
"While we recognize this is an inconvenience for our employees, we’ve...
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