This project was completed by Intensity. Intensity joined Secretariat on February 1, 2023.

Background

A class action lawsuit was filed against a large healthcare provider, which included claims of employee misclassification, unpaid overtime, and failure to allow rest and meal periods. The employees at issue included outpatient pharmacy managers that were classified as exempt employees. The complaint asserted that the employees should not have been classified as exempt if more than 50% of the pharmacy managers’ job duties consisted of non-management functions such as filling prescriptions.

Our Analysis

Intensity conducted research and analyzed data in the case to determine whether certain assertions relating to class certification were accurate and reliable. Intensity also analyzed whether employee pharmacy managers all operated similarly with respect to the amount of time performing non-management functions.

Intensity evaluated various data sources for reliability relating to the issue of commonality among proposed class members. As part of its work, Intensity evaluated surveys for integrity issues such as potential sample selection bias. For example, Intensity evaluated whether certain survey questions, as drafted, were capable of answering empirical questions relevant to class certification. As another example, survey practices in the case were evaluated to determine whether moral hazard and economic incentives may have influenced responses.

Intensity also analyzed whether pharmacy managers operated homogenously in response to company policies and other incentives relevant to their employment roles. Intensity determined whether sufficient data were available to establish whether all employee pharmacy managers performed their roles similarly with respect to tasks performed and the time spent on those tasks.