MU Health, employees reach proposed settlement in timekeeping case

Both sides in a lawsuit over MU Health Care’s timekeeping system agreed on a proposed settlement, according to court documents.

Attorneys for Richard Hunsley, a former clinical employee at MU Women’s and Children’s Hospital, and Donna Reeves, a current employee at University Hospital, asked the Boone County court to cancel a hearing set for Tuesday. The parties had reached a settlement, attorney Daniel Craig wrote, and would be seeking the court’s approval soon.

Hunsley and Reeves sued MU Health Care in 2016 over its Kronos employee timekeeping system. While they, as clinical employees, are given a 30-minute break, they are expected to return to work based on patient demands. Kronos, their lawsuit claimed, would automatically deduct 30 minutes from their shift even if they worked through a break.

Brendan Donelon, an attorney for the employees, told ABC 17 News he could not talk about the settlement’s specifics. He said he hoped to have the proposed settlement to the court for approval by the end of the month.

ABC 17 News reported earlier this month about Donelon’s request to keep the lawsuit going. MU Health Care administrators, he said, admitted that Kronos should not be automatically deducting time, and that the practice could put them at risk for Department of Labor violations.

MU Health Care, through its attorneys at the Bryan Cave law firm, said that employees could correct their time worked through Kronos’ exception log.