250 Liberty Medical employees getting settlement checks
By staff report

Tuesday, November 11, 2008

PORT ST. LUCIE - About 250 current and former employees of Liberty Medical Supply who'd sued the Port St. Lucie company over wage and overtime issues may have more to spend over the holidays now that about $1 million in settlement checks are being distributed to members of the class-action lawsuit.

The checks, averaging about $3,000 for each plaintiff, stem from a 2007 court settlement Liberty Medical Supply entered into after hundreds of employees filed lawsuits in 2005. The employees claimed they were due overtime and bonus wages and accused the company of illegally using an automatic lunch deduction to dock pay, even when an employee did not take lunch.

In 2007, Liberty Medical had agreed to pay more than $467,000, but a federal judge in the case ruled the company willfully violated the law, which permitted the damages to be doubled. The company appealed that ruling to the 11th Circuit in Atlanta, but the court rejected the appeal, saying it wasn't filed in time.

Attorney Mark Cullen of West Palm Beach, who represented the employees, said the settlement resolves five federal lawsuits against Liberty Medical, all claiming the company violated the Fair Labor Standards Act.

"Unfortunately, we still have not been able to get in touch with a few people¥...¥ but we're still looking for them and we'll hold their checks for them so they can have their money," said Cullen.

For more information, contact Cullen at (561) 640-9191. ?