From 2017 to 2026, Siegel Law Group PLLC represented salaried care coordinators in overtime cases against Health Care Service Corporation (Blue Cross and Blue Shield of New Mexico), UnitedHealthcare, Magellan Health and Presbyterian Health Plan under the New Mexico Minimum Wage Act and the FLSA. Every case is resolved. Courts certified classes and rejected the exemption.

Care coordinators line up the specialist, untangle the paperwork, and call the family back when nobody else will. New Mexico’s managed care companies paid hundreds of them a salary and no overtime. We spent nine years in federal court over it.

Key facts

• On June 24, 2026, Judge David H. Urias granted final approval of a $38.7 million settlement in Pruess v. Presbyterian Health Plan, Inc., No. 1:19-cv-00629 (D.N.M.), for 918 care coordinators and UM nurses (Doc. 331).¹
• In August 2024, a federal court ruled that Magellan’s New Mexico care coordinators were not administratively exempt under the FLSA and the NMMWA, certified a New Mexico class, and narrowed the FLSA collective to New Mexico.⁴⁵
• Two Tenth Circuit rulings (2020, published; 2022, unpublished) rejected UnitedHealthcare’s attempt to force care coordinators into arbitration.⁶⁷
• Siegel Law Group represented workers in three suits against HCSC. The court approved the Candelaria settlement on Nov. 4, 2020, and appointed Jack Siegel class counsel.⁸⁹
• In June 2020, in Rodriguez v. Peak Pressure Control, a federal court certified a Rule 23 class of pressure-control operators under the New Mexico Minimum Wage Act. To our knowledge, it was the first class certified under that law in federal court.¹⁰

These are results in other people's cases. Every case depends on its own facts and law. Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome.

The cases at a glance

Pruess v. Presbyterian Health Plan, Inc.

• Court: U.S. District Court for the District of New Mexico, No. 1:19-cv-00629
• Filed: July 11, 2019
• Workers: Salaried care coordinators and UM nurses
• Rulings: Conditional certification and equitable tolling (Nov. 6, 2020);³ Rule 23 class certified and decertification denied (Aug. 16, 2024)²
• Outcome: $38.7 million settlement, final approval June 24, 2026 (Doc. 331). Siegel Law Group was lead counsel. [JACK: confirm no-admission term — “Presbyterian denied the allegations.”]
• Read the case record →

Deakin v. Magellan Health, Inc.

• Court: D.N.M., No. 1:17-cv-00773
• Filed: 2017
• Workers: Salaried care coordinators serving New Mexico Medicaid members
• Rulings: New Mexico class certified and FLSA collective narrowed to New Mexico (Aug. 14, 2024); summary judgment for the care coordinator on the administrative exemption (Aug. 28, 2024)
• Outcome: Resolved by settlement. Siegel Law Group was lead counsel. [JACK: confirm no-admission term — “Magellan denied the allegations.”]
• Read the case record →

Fedor v. UnitedHealthcare, Inc.

• Court: D.N.M., No. 1:17-cv-00013; Tenth Circuit Nos. 19-2066 and 21-2051
• Filed: 2017
• Workers: Salaried care coordinators
• Rulings: Tenth Circuit reversed an order compelling arbitration (Sept. 16, 2020); Tenth Circuit affirmed the denial of arbitration (Apr. 11, 2022)
• Outcome: Resolved. Siegel Law Group was lead counsel.
• 2020 appeal → · 2022 appeal →

Candelaria, Kuzma and Aguilar v. Health Care Service Corporation

• Court: D.N.M., Nos. 2:17-cv-00404, 1:22-cv-00217 and 1:22-cv-00688
• Filed: 2017 and 2022
• Workers: Salaried employees of HCSC, which operates Blue Cross and Blue Shield of New Mexico
• Outcome: Candelaria settlement approved Nov. 4, 2020, with Jack Siegel appointed class counsel. All three cases are resolved. Siegel Law Group represented workers in each.
• Read the case record →

Rodriguez v. Peak Pressure Control, LLC

• Court: D.N.M., No. 2:17-cv-00576
• Filed: 2017
• Workers: About 150 salaried pressure-control operators
• Rulings: Rule 23(b)(3) class certified under the New Mexico Minimum Wage Act (June 2020); partial summary judgment rejecting the administrative exemption¹¹
• Outcome: Resolved. Siegel Law Group was lead counsel and appointed class counsel.
• Read the record →

What the courts decided

Magellan’s care coordinators did production work, not administrative work

Judge Matthew L. Garcia granted summary judgment for the care coordinator on Magellan’s administrative exemption defense, under both the FLSA and the New Mexico Minimum Wage Act: “Deakin’s work as a CC plainly falls on the production side of the dichotomy.”⁴

The Magellan collective was narrowed to New Mexico

Two weeks earlier, the court certified a New Mexico class and “certifie[d] the following narrowed collective: All current and former Care Coordinators employed by Defendants in New Mexico from October 1, 2013 to the final date of judgment.”⁵

Presbyterian: notice, tolling, then a certified class

In November 2020 the court conditionally certified a collective of Presbyterian care coordination employees and tolled the limitations period because the certification motion had been pending for a year.³ In August 2024 it certified a Rule 23 class of New Mexico care coordinators and refused to decertify the FLSA collective.²

UnitedHealthcare could not force arbitration

The Tenth Circuit held that a court must decide whether an arbitration agreement was ever formed before enforcing it: “a delegation clause cannot be severed from an agreement that does not exist.”⁶ In 2022 the court affirmed again, holding that UnitedHealthcare could not raise a new contract-formation theory for the first time on appeal.⁷

Timeline, 2017–2026

1. 2017: Fedor (UnitedHealthcare), Deakin (Magellan) and Rodriguez (Peak Pressure) filed in the District of New Mexico.
2. Apr. 3, 2017: Candelaria v. HCSC filed.
3. July 11, 2019: Pruess v. Presbyterian filed.
4. June 2020: Rodriguez class certified under the New Mexico Minimum Wage Act.
5. Sept. 16, 2020: Tenth Circuit reverses the order compelling arbitration in Fedor, 976 F.3d 1100.
6. Nov. 4, 2020: Candelaria settlement approved.
7. Nov. 6, 2020: Pruess collective conditionally certified; limitations period tolled.
8. Mar. 22, 2022: Super Lawyers profiles Jack Siegel’s New Mexico cases.
9. Mar. 25, 2022: Kuzma v. HCSC filed.
10. Apr. 11, 2022: Tenth Circuit affirms in Fedor a second time.
11. Sept. 19, 2022: Aguilar v. HCSC filed.
12. Aug. 14, 2024: Deakin New Mexico class certified; collective narrowed to New Mexico.
13. Aug. 16, 2024: Pruess Rule 23 class certified.
14. Aug. 28, 2024: Deakin summary judgment: care coordinators not administratively exempt.
15. June 16, 2026: Law360 reports the $38.7 million Pruess settlement.
16. June 24, 2026: Pruess final approval (Doc. 331).

Why New Mexico law mattered

The New Mexico Minimum Wage Act gives workers their unpaid wages plus interest plus twice the unpaid amount, mandatory attorney fees, and the right to sue on behalf of other employees similarly situated.¹⁵ “For years it sat in the garage like a sports car nobody drove,” Jack Siegel says. “We took it out.” More on New Mexico overtime law.

What we said in 2022

In March 2022, Super Lawyers reported that Jack Siegel was litigating against Magellan Health, Presbyterian and UnitedHealth in New Mexico, with “more than $80 million” at stake. All three cases have since resolved. “I just don’t go into cases thinking I’m going to lose,” he told the magazine.¹²

Where it started: Rodriguez

Before the health plans, there were the oilfields. In Rodriguez v. Peak Pressure Control, about 150 salaried pressure-control operators sued under the New Mexico Minimum Wage Act. The court certified a Rule 23(b)(3) class and rejected the employer’s administrative exemption on summary judgment. Bloomberg Law covered the certification on June 4, 2020.¹⁰¹¹

The total

Siegel Law Group’s New Mexico cases have recovered more than $100 million for New Mexico workers. These are results in other people's cases. Every case depends on its own facts and law. Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome.

If you did this work in New Mexico

[JACK: if Palumbo-Smith notice is open, this section is removed before publish (§ 8.7 #12)]

This is general information, not legal advice. If you were paid a salary to coordinate care, manage cases or review authorizations for a New Mexico health plan and worked more than 40 hours a week, the exemption may not fit your job. New Mexico claims generally must be filed within three years of the last violation. Firing or punishing you for raising a wage complaint is illegal under federal and New Mexico law.¹⁴

Free, confidential case review: (214) 790-4454 or request a review.

We take overtime cases on contingency. We advance the costs of the case, and if we recover, those costs are repaid out of the recovery. If we do not recover, you owe us nothing — no attorney's fee and no costs.

FAQ

Who sued New Mexico’s Medicaid managed care companies over care coordinator overtime?

Siegel Law Group PLLC represented salaried care coordinators in federal overtime cases against Presbyterian Health Plan, Magellan Health, UnitedHealthcare and Health Care Service Corporation (Blue Cross and Blue Shield of New Mexico) from 2017 to 2026.

Were Magellan care coordinators exempt from overtime?

No. In August 2024, the District of New Mexico granted summary judgment that a Magellan care coordinator was not administratively exempt under the FLSA or the New Mexico Minimum Wage Act, holding that her work “plainly falls on the production side of the dichotomy.”⁴

Could UnitedHealthcare force care coordinators into arbitration?

No. The Tenth Circuit ruled against UnitedHealthcare twice, in 2020 (published) and 2022 (unpublished).⁶⁷

Can I still join these cases?

No. They are resolved.

Can my employer fire me for asking about overtime?

No. Federal law and the New Mexico Minimum Wage Act both prohibit retaliation for asserting wage rights, and New Mexico also protects telling a coworker about those rights.¹⁴

Press and sources

• Law360, June 16, 2026: the Pruess settlement
• Bloomberg Law, June 4, 2020: Rodriguez class certification
• Super Lawyers, Mar. 22, 2022: “More at Stake”

Jack L. Siegel is admitted to practice in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Mexico (since 2016).¹³

These are results in other people's cases. Every case depends on its own facts and law. Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome.

[Last reviewed [date] by Jack L. Siegel]

Attorney responsible: Jack L. Siegel, Siegel Law Group PLLC, 11341 W. US Hwy 290, Bldg. 2, Austin, TX 78737. Licensed in Texas.

This website contains attorney advertising.

Notes

1. Pruess v. Presbyterian Health Plan, Inc., No. 1:19-cv-00629 (D.N.M. June 24, 2026) (order granting final approval), Doc. 331. Settlement reported in Benjamin Morse, “Healthcare Plan Cos. Will Pay $38.7M To End Overtime Suit,” Law360 (June 16, 2026).
2. Pruess v. Presbyterian Health Plan, Inc., No. 1:19-cv-00629, Doc. 283 (D.N.M. Aug. 16, 2024) (granting Rule 23 class certification; denying decertification of the FLSA collective), reported at 745 F. Supp. 3d 1218.
3. Pruess v. Presbyterian Health Plan, Inc., No. 1:19-cv-00629, Doc. 47 (D.N.M. Nov. 6, 2020) (granting conditional certification and equitable tolling).
4. Deakin v. Magellan Health, Inc., No. 1:17-cv-00773 (D.N.M. Aug. 28, 2024) (granting plaintiff’s motion for summary judgment on the administrative exemption under the FLSA and the NMMWA).
5. Deakin v. Magellan Health, Inc., No. 1:17-cv-00773, Doc. 355 (D.N.M. Aug. 14, 2024) (certifying a Rule 23(b)(3) New Mexico class; narrowing the FLSA collective to New Mexico care coordinators).
6. Fedor v. United Healthcare, Inc., 976 F.3d 1100 (10th Cir. 2020) (No. 19-2066, Sept. 16, 2020) (published).
7. Fedor v. United Healthcare, Inc., No. 21-2051 (10th Cir. Apr. 11, 2022) (unpublished) (affirming denial of motion to compel arbitration).
8. Candelaria v. Health Care Service Corp., No. 2:17-cv-00404 (D.N.M.) (final approval Nov. 4, 2020); Kuzma v. Health Care Service Corp., No. 1:22-cv-00217 (D.N.M.); Aguilar v. Health Care Service Corp., No. 1:22-cv-00688 (D.N.M.).
9. Declaration of Jack Siegel ¶ 13(d), Weeks v. Matrix Absence Mgmt., Inc., No. 2:20-cv-00884 (D. Ariz. July 6, 2022) (class counsel appointments, including Candelaria and Rodriguez).
10. Rodriguez v. Peak Pressure Control, LLC, No. 2:17-cv-00576 (D.N.M. 2020) (certifying a class under Fed. R. Civ. P. 23(b)(3)); Kathleen Dailey, “Nine Energy Facing Certified Class in New Mexico Overtime Suit,” Bloomberg Law (June 4, 2020).
11. Rodriguez v. Peak Pressure Control, LLC, No. 2:17-cv-00576 (D.N.M.) (granting partial summary judgment on the administrative exemption under the New Mexico Minimum Wage Act).
12. Alison Macor, “More at Stake,” Super Lawyers (Mar. 22, 2022).
13. Declaration of Jack L. Siegel ¶ 4, Heckle v. Matrix Absence Mgmt., Inc., No. 7:21-cv-01463 (S.D.N.Y. Mar. 21, 2022) (admitted, District of New Mexico, Aug. 8, 2016).
14. 29 U.S.C. § 215(a)(3); NMSA 1978 § 50-4-26.1.
15. NMSA 1978 § 50-4-26 (damages, class actions, mandatory fees).