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Tuesday, July 28, 2009

Ind. Decisions - More on: "Judge rules state workers owed $42 million" [Updated]

Here is the 27-page opinion in the case of Paula Brattain et al v. Richmond State Hospital, et al. For more, see the previous entry.

[Updated 7/29/09] Jon Murray has an expanded report in today's Indianapolis Star. Some quotes:

A $42 million judgment against the state Tuesday over back pay to state workers won't quite break Indiana's bank, but it's hardly welcome news in a tight budget year.

The ruling by a Marion County judge -- one of the largest ever against the state -- resolved a 16-year-old class-action lawsuit by current and former state workers who said they were underpaid going back to 1973.
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A plaintiffs' attorney said as many as 15,000 people potentially affected by the ruling won't see a penny while the state pursues appeals -- a route Gov. Mitch Daniels supports.

Judge John Hanley issued the $42.4 million judgment based on arguments and testimony heard during a four-day trial in March.

The amount would cover back pay for state employees who worked 40-hour weeks from 1973 to 1993, yet received the same pay as others in similar jobs who logged only 37.5 hours.

"These are people who put their own hard work on the line for years, and the state would only be compensating these people their just due," said John Kautzman, an Indianapolis attorney who represented some of the plaintiffs. * * *

"It's a case that probably should have been dismissed in the Bayh administration," said Jane Jankowski, Daniels' press secretary. "We're confident now that the appeals court . . . will set this right and do it in a manner that will protect Hoosier taxpayers." * * *

Hanley's ruling acknowledged the judgment's timing during the recession "will not be widely appreciated."

"However, these are political considerations and not legal ones," the ruling says. "The parties have had numerous opportunities to resolve this litigation over an extended number of years, in good economic times as well as bad, without the necessity of judicial intervention, and they have failed to do so."

The new judgment barely exceeds the $38 million spent by the state on an average day, Hanley noted. Its annual payroll is $1.3 billion. * * *

The state ended the unequal pay system in 1993 by mandating 37.5-hour weeks for all employees.

But the lawsuit has endured years of legal challenges, and Kautzman called Tuesday's ruling the state's "day of reckoning."

A year ago, the state approved an $8.5 million settlement, but it backed out after claims by former workers exceeded that amount -- reaching more than $30 million, Kautzman said.

An expert hired by the plaintiffs arrived at the $42.4 million figure by analyzing incomplete state records on microfilm, Kautzman said.

The four class representatives worked for Richmond State Hospital and the Indiana Department of Transportation.

Posted by Marcia Oddi on July 28, 2009 06:40 PM
Posted to Ind. Trial Ct. Decisions | Indiana Government