Did Sentara Health Plans, formerly Optima Health, owe overtime to its salaried care coordinators and care managers? That was the question in two federal lawsuits in Norfolk, Virginia. Siegel Law Group brought both: Brunty v. Optima Health Plan (filed 2019) for Care Coordinator-Non-RN employees, and Edwards v. Optima Health Plan (filed 2020) for care management employees. A collective was conditionally certified in each case, and both cases settled.¹

These were the people who chased authorizations, set up appointments and walked members through their benefits, on a salary, with the hours past 40 going unpaid. We took that pay practice to federal court twice in Hampton Roads.

Who is Sentara Health Plans?

Sentara Health Plans is the health plan business that operated as Optima Health. In December 2023 the plan announced, “Optima Health is changing our name to Sentara Health Plans.”² Its 2024 federal employee plan brochure is titled “Sentara Health Plans formerly Optima Health” and lists administrative offices in Virginia Beach.³ In Edwards, the court described Optima Health Plan as “a Virginia corporation that provides health insurance coverage” and Sentara as “a Virginia-based healthcare provider that owns and operates numerous hospitals and nursing facilities throughout the Commonwealth of Virginia.”⁴ Both lawsuits named Optima Health Plan and Sentara Health Plans, Inc. as defendants.⁵

Names you may know it by: Optima Health, Optima Health Plan, Sentara Health Plans.

The two cases at a glance

• Brunty v. Optima Health Plan · E.D. Va. No. 2:19-cv-00255 · filed May 15, 2019 · Care Coordinator-Non-RN · collective conditionally certified by consent order; settled on behalf of 178 workers · the certification · the settlement
• Edwards v. Optima Health Plan · E.D. Va. No. 2:20-cv-00192 · filed April 16, 2020 · care coordinators, behavioral health care coordinators, integrated care managers, utilization review managers · collective conditionally certified March 29, 2021; settled on behalf of more than 100 workers · the certification

Who was covered

Brunty was limited to one job: Care Coordinator-Non-RN. The collective reached salaried people in that position over the prior three years, and nobody outside that title.⁶ Jack Siegel’s sworn declaration puts the group whose claims settled at 178.¹

Edwards went wider. The four named plaintiffs had held titles including Behavioral Health Care Coordinator, Utilization Review Manager, Care Coordinator, Integrated Care Manager and RN LTSS Care Coordinator.⁴ The court defined the group by the work, not the title: non-clinical, non-managerial employees doing utilization review or case management, including

“collecting information to document insured individuals’ medical circumstances (data collection); inputting that information into Defendants’ computer system (data entry); using established guidelines to maximize utilization of plan resources through the application of predetermined criteria (utilization management); coordinating care by arranging appointments and referrals and obtaining necessary authorizations from individuals (care coordination); educating members about their health plan (plan education); and other similar work.”⁴

The court noted the plaintiffs alleged they “were paid a salary and were classified as exempt from overtime” while working more than forty hours in a week.⁴ These were allegations; the court did not decide who was right.

What the court did, in order

1. May 2019. Brunty filed in the Eastern District of Virginia, Norfolk Division, under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA).⁵
2. 2020. Conditional certification in Brunty by an agreed order, which let notice go to Care Coordinator-Non-RN employees.⁶
3. April 2020. Edwards filed, reaching the broader group of care management staff. Jack Siegel filed to appear pro hac vice in June 2020.⁵
4. March 29, 2021. The court granted the Edwards motion for conditional certification: “the Motion for Conditional Certification will be GRANTED.”⁴
5. Settlements. Both cases later settled. As of March 2022, Jack Siegel swore that Brunty resolved the claims of 178 workers and Edwards the claims of more than 100.¹

Conditional certification is a notice step. It is not a ruling that anyone was owed overtime, and a settlement is not an admission.

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 worked there

Both collectives had court-set deadlines to join, and those deadlines have passed. If you did care coordination or care management work at Optima or Sentara and weren’t in either case, or worked there after the cases ended, your own claim is a separate question. Under the FLSA, the clock is generally two years, or three for a willful violation, and it keeps running until you file your own claim.⁷ Federal law also bars an employer from retaliating against you for raising it.⁸ This page is general information. It can’t tell you whether you have a claim.

For the job-by-job answer, see care coordinators and case managers. For every health plan we’ve sued, see managed care overtime cases. To check another employer, see employers we’ve taken to court.

FAQ

Is Optima Health the same company as Sentara Health Plans?

Same plan, new name. Optima Health announced its change to Sentara Health Plans in December 2023, and federal plan materials list it as “Sentara Health Plans formerly Optima Health.”²³ The lawsuits use the older Optima name because they were filed before the change.

I wasn’t a nurse. Does that matter?

Not for these cases. Brunty was limited to the Non-RN care coordinator job, and the Edwards group was defined as non-clinical, non-managerial staff.⁴⁶ A salary and an “exempt” label don’t settle the question either way; the duties do.

Can I still join Brunty or Edwards?

No. Both have settled and their opt-in periods closed. A new claim would be your own, on its own timeline.

How much did the settlements pay?

This page doesn’t list amounts. The case records linked above show what the court record supports.

Did you do this work somewhere else?

If you were a care coordinator, care manager or utilization reviewer at any health plan, paid a salary and routinely past 40 hours, tell us your job title, your employer and the state you worked in. We’ll tell you plainly whether we think you have a case.

Tell us your job, employer and state →

Attorney responsible: Jack L. Siegel, Siegel Law Group PLLC, 11341 W. US Hwy 290, Bldg. 2, Austin, TX 78737. Licensed in Texas. This page is general information, not legal advice. 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.

Notes

1. Declaration of Jack L. Siegel ¶ 5(c), (l), Heckle v. Matrix Absence Mgmt., Inc., No. 7:21-cv-01463 (S.D.N.Y. Mar. 21, 2022).
2. “Optima Health is becoming Sentara Health Plans. New name. Same trusted health plan.,” Potomac Local (Dec. 20, 2023).
3. U.S. Office of Personnel Management, 2024 plan brochure RI 73-893, “Sentara Health Plans formerly Optima Health”.
4. Edwards v. Optima Health Plan, No. 2:20-cv-00192, Doc. 33 (E.D. Va. Mar. 29, 2021) (memorandum opinion granting conditional certification); also on CourtListener.
5. Dockets: Brunty v. Optima Health Plan, No. 2:19-cv-00255 (E.D. Va.); Edwards v. Optima Health Plan, No. 2:20-cv-00192 (E.D. Va.) (pro hac vice motion of Jack Lewis Siegel, June 12, 2020).
6. Consent order conditionally certifying a collective, Brunty v. Optima Health Plan, No. 2:19-cv-00255 (E.D. Va. 2020), summarized at our case record.
7. 29 U.S.C. § 255(a); 29 U.S.C. § 256.
8. 29 U.S.C. § 215(a)(3).