Part of our managed care overtime cases →
IlliniCare Health Plan, a Centene subsidiary, runs Medicaid managed-care plans in Illinois. It paid its non-RN care coordinators, Program Specialists and Behavioral Case Managers, a flat salary and classified them as exempt from overtime. The workers alleged that their days were spent on the phone with members, logging information, applying set criteria and lining up services, not making independent clinical calls.
Program Specialist Dorian Linnear filed suit in October 2017. The court conditionally certified the FLSA collective action in June 2018, and coworkers joined. The case also carried an Illinois class claim for non-RN Program Specialists and Behavioral Case Managers in Illinois.
The administrative exemption covers employees whose primary duty includes "the exercise of discretion and independent judgment with respect to matters of significance." 29 C.F.R. § 541.200(a)(3). Care coordinators and case managers who work from set assessments, scripts and company workflows are following someone else’s judgment, not exercising their own. A salary and a job title do not change that. See the administrative exemption.
The case settled for 545 workers, including contract workers placed through a staffing agency. On December 17, 2019, Judge Rebecca R. Pallmeyer granted final approval. Payments were mailed to class members without a claim form.
Non-RN care coordinators who worked for IlliniCare or Centene in Illinois as Program Specialists or Behavioral Case Managers during the class period, plus FLSA opt-in plaintiffs.
No. Payments were mailed to class members.
Yes. Workers placed through a staffing agency were covered along with direct employees.
Often, yes. A salary alone does not make you exempt. Where the work follows established criteria and standardized assessments, the administrative exemption generally does not apply.
Siegel Law Group PLLC concentrates in unpaid overtime cases under the FLSA and state wage laws. The firm has filed more than 100 federal overtime cases, obtained 50+ class and collective certifications in 20 federal judicial districts across 15 states, and recovered more than $100 million for workers. It has never represented an employer in a wage case. Free consultation. Contingency fee: we advance case costs, and they are repaid from any recovery. No recovery, no fee and no costs. Phone: (214) 790-4454 | Email: [email protected]
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