AMN Healthcare to Pay USD 3M After California Settlement on Interpreter Underpayment

A California federal judge has ruled that AMN Healthcare must pay USD 3m in a settlement over medical interpreters’ wages.

The ruling, made in a US District Court in San Diego, California on November 1, 2023, concludes a class action lawsuit that commenced in January 2022, alleging that AMN undercompensated interpreters for overtime hours. 

According to plaintiff Sharon Oliveira, AMN’s overtime rate did not account for nondiscretionary bonuses, time spent booting up computers, or short breaks of less than 20 minutes. 

The parties reportedly reached a settlement to resolve their dispute in September 2022 during a mediation session, and the joint motion granted by Judge James E. Simmons, Jr. was the final approval needed to move forward. 

Of the USD 3m settlement attorneys will receive USD 1m in fees and an additional USD 46,000 in costs. The remaining funds will be divided among several partially overlapping worker groups representing almost 1,500 medical interpreters. 

More than 1,000 collective members will receive an average payout of USD 828, and 41 Ohio class members will receive an additional USD 153. The named plaintiffs, Oliveira and Ingrid Leeman, will each also receive USD 7,500 as service fees.

California class members will receive an average payment of USD 2,800 and, interestingly, may have worked for any of AMN’s predecessors between June 27, 2018 and November 1, 2022 — meaning some of the recipients may only have worked for Stratus Video, prior to AMN’s March 2020 acquisition of the remote interpreting provider.