On December 2, 2020, the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of North Carolina approved the parties’ stipulation and conditionally certified a collective of I/DD Care Coordinators in Ford v. Cardinal Innovations Healthcare Solutions, Case No. 1:20-cv-736. In this I/DD care coordinator overtime lawsuit, both sides agreed to conditional certification and notice, and the court made a few changes. The Siegel Law Group represented the workers.
The parties filed a “Stipulation and Motion for Conditional Certification and Court-Authorized Notice” on November 20, 2020. Judge Thomas D. Schroeder approved it on December 2, 2020, subject to his changes.
In close paraphrase, the collective the court conditionally certified included all individuals who worked for Cardinal Innovations Healthcare Solutions at any time between December 2, 2017, and December 2, 2020, in the job title I/DD Care Coordinator.
The court approved the agreed notice and consent form but added this line: “If you join the lawsuit, Plaintiffs’ counsel will represent you unless you decide to hire your own attorney at your own expense.” Notice was to go out by U.S. mail and email on the schedule in the stipulation.
The plaintiffs also asked for workers’ personal cell phone numbers. Cardinal Innovations did not object, so the court allowed it, with a limit. Counsel could call a worker only if the notice came back undeliverable, and only to get a current address. The contact list could be shared only among plaintiffs’ counsel and used only in this case.
Because the parties stipulated, this was not a contested ruling, but it still set a clear three-year window tied to one job title. The court’s changes told workers who would represent them and kept their contact details to narrow uses.
Conditional certification is a preliminary step, not a finding that anyone was owed overtime or that Cardinal Innovations broke the law.
The order does not describe how the workers were paid or the overtime theory in the case. As general information, the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) requires overtime at one and a half times the regular rate for hours over 40 in a workweek, unless an exemption applies. The employer must prove that the worker’s actual pay and duties fit an exemption, such as the administrative exemption.
As general information, many federal courts at the time used a two-step approach, and step one decided whether notice went out (see how collective action certification works). Some federal appeals courts have since changed this approach — the Fifth Circuit in Swales v. KLLM Transport Services (2021) and the Sixth Circuit in Clark v. A&L Homecare & Training Center (2023). Here, the parties agreed to the first step.
This page describes a 2020 court order. The time to join that collective was set by the court in that case. If you have worked in a similar role, the Siegel Law Group can evaluate your own claims.
The order does not spell out the abbreviation I/DD, which commonly stands for intellectual and developmental disabilities. Have you worked as a care coordinator and put in more than 40 hours in a week without overtime pay? A lawyer can review how you were paid.
Contact the Siegel Law Group for a free consultation.
Related rulings: Kirkpatrick v. Cardinal Innovations, an earlier case against the same employer for I/DD Care Coordinators.
Some do, but it depends on the job. Federal law requires time and a half for hours past 40 in a week. Exemptions are the exceptions, and the employer has to prove that one applies. A salary or a title alone does not settle the question; the real duties and pay of the role decide it.
Yes. On November 20, 2020, the parties filed a stipulation and motion asking for conditional certification and court-authorized notice. Judge Thomas D. Schroeder approved it on December 2, 2020, but with his own changes, including an added line telling workers who would represent them if they joined. Agreeing to notice is not an admission that overtime is owed, and the order made no ruling on that issue.
The 2020 order covered everyone who worked for Cardinal Innovations Healthcare Solutions as an I/DD Care Coordinator at any time from December 2, 2017, through December 2, 2020. The deadline to join came from that case. Care coordinators in similar jobs can still ask a lawyer to look at their own claims.
Sometimes, with limits. In the Cardinal Innovations case, the judge allowed it because the employer did not object. But the workers’ lawyers could call only people whose notice was returned undeliverable, and only to find a current mailing address. The list could be used only for that lawsuit.
The Siegel Law Group is a national overtime and wage law firm devoted entirely to representing workers denied overtime pay. Where many firms include wage cases as a small part of a broader employment practice, the Siegel Law Group has built its entire practice around overtime litigation — and the results reflect that commitment: $100M+ recovered for workers, 50+ class and collective action certifications, and 100+ federal lawsuits filed in 27+ federal courts nationwide. Founding attorney Jack Siegel is a Bloomberg BNA contributing author on wage and hour law.
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