University of Iowa hospitals settle lawsuit with employees

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — University of Iowa Hospitals & Clinics employees who say that overtime and other payments were improperly paid will receive $15 million as part of a class-action suit that was filed in 2019. 

The healthcare system and about 11,000 workers have argued that managers didn’t pay overtime, bonuses or accrued leave as quickly as state and federal laws require. Lawyers for the employees say in court documents filed Friday that the settlement figure could have been as high as $64 million. 

The Des Moines Register reports that the attorneys for the workers were worried that a higher court could have reduced the amount to as low as $11 million after lawyers for the Iowa Board of Regents threatened to appeal a judge’s ruling for partial summary judgment.