The IlliniCare overtime settlement in Linnear et al. v. IlliniCare Health Plan, Inc. resolved unpaid overtime claims for 545 care coordinators — Program Specialists and Behavioral Case Managers — who were paid a flat salary and classified as exempt. Jack Siegel of Siegel Law Group served as lead counsel. The court granted final approval on December 17, 2019.
IlliniCare, a Centene subsidiary, runs Medicaid managed-care plans for the State of Illinois. It paid its care coordinators a flat salary, called them exempt, and owed them nothing for hours past 40. These were people on the phone with members, logging medical information, applying set criteria and lining up care. They were not making independent clinical calls, and they were not providing nursing care at a bedside. They were doing the work that keeps a health plan running, and they were not paid for all of it.
Program Specialist Dorian Linnear filed suit in October 2017. The court conditionally certified the FLSA collective in June 2018, and coworkers joined. The case also carried an Illinois class claim covering every non-RN Program Specialist and Behavioral Case Manager in Illinois from October 3, 2014 to September 29, 2018.
The question was whether care coordinators who apply established criteria qualify for the administrative exemption. Under the Fair Labor Standards Act, that exemption requires the exercise of discretion and independent judgment with respect to matters of significance. Work governed by set criteria, standardized assessments and company-prescribed workflows generally does not meet that standard, whatever the job title says.
Claims were brought under both the FLSA and the Illinois Minimum Wage Law — a hybrid structure that lets workers recover under whichever statute gives them more.
IlliniCare and Centene agreed to pay $2,500,000. On December 17, 2019, Judge Rebecca R. Pallmeyer granted final approval and found the settlement fair, reasonable and adequate.
Contract workers were included too. Staffing-agency placements are often left out of these cases. This time they got paid.
Medicaid managed care is one of the largest segments of American healthcare, and care coordinator misclassification is among the most common overtime violations in it. Health plans employ thousands of coordinators to manage enrollee care. The caseloads are heavy, the hours run past forty, and the work is governed by criteria somebody else wrote — which is exactly why the exempt label so often does not hold up.
If you are paid a salary to coordinate care, review utilization, or manage cases, and you work more than 40 hours a week without overtime, you may have a claim under the FLSA and your state's wage law. Contact Siegel Law Group for a free, confidential consultation. We work on contingency — no attorney's fee unless we recover.
Non-RN care coordinators employed by IlliniCare or Centene in Illinois as Program Specialists or Behavioral Case Managers between October 3, 2014 and September 29, 2018, plus FLSA opt-in plaintiffs.
No. Payments were mailed automatically to every class member.
About $1.6 million was distributed among 545 workers. The average payment was approximately $3,416; the largest exceeded $11,995.
No. Like most settlements, this one resolved the claims without an admission of liability.
Yes. Thirty-two workers placed through a staffing agency were covered alongside the 513 direct employees. Staffing-agency placements are frequently excluded from settlements of this kind.
Often, yes. A salary alone does not make you exempt. Where the work follows established criteria and standardized assessments rather than genuine independent judgment, the administrative exemption generally does not apply.
Siegel Law Group is a national overtime law firm that concentrates in representing employees in unpaid overtime and wage and hour litigation under the Fair Labor Standards Act and state overtime laws. Headquartered in Austin, Texas, attorney Jack Siegel has filed more than 100 federal overtime lawsuits across 27 federal courts and obtained more than 50 class and collective action certifications nationwide. Free consultation, contingency fee — no attorney's fee unless we recover. Phone: (214) 790-4454 | Email: [email protected].
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