CHICAGO (LN) — A putative class action accusing Helia Healthcare Services of automatically shaving thirty minutes of daily pay from workers at its skilled nursing facilities survived a dismissal bid Thursday, when a federal judge denied the company's motion after finding it failed to contest the sufficiency of the allegations against it.
Amanda High, who worked as an hourly employee for Helia from October 2022 until March 2025, claims the company systematically deducted thirty minutes per day from recorded hours for breaks workers never actually took and never got paid for. She also alleges Helia failed to pay proper overtime rates and excluded bonuses rate of pay used to calculate overtime. Her complaint brings claims under the Fair Labor Standards Act, the Illinois Minimum Wage Law, and the Illinois Wage Payment and Collection Act on behalf of herself and similarly situated workers.
U.S. District Judge Jeremy C. Daniel found Helia's two-page dismissal motion — filed under Rules 12(b)(6), 12(b)(7), and 12(c) — legally deficient. According to the order, the motion did not explain why Helia was entitled to dismissal; it simply asserted that Helia never employed High, did not deduct thirty minutes per day from paychecks, and that High failed to name a necessary party.
Helia also attached a purported pay stub, an email from its counsel to High's counsel, and a memo on the company's timekeeping policy for lunch breaks. Judge Daniel declined to consider any of it. Because none of those documents were referenced in High's complaint, the general rule against considering extrinsic evidence on a motion to dismiss applied, and he exercised his discretion to deny Helia's implicit request to convert the motion into one for summary judgment.
On the merits, Judge Daniel held Helia's denials legally irrelevant stage. Citing Swanson v. Citibank, N.A., he noted that the veracity of a plaintiff's allegations is not at issue on a motion to dismiss, and that Helia had not actually challenged whether High's allegations were sufficient to state a claim.
The Rule 12(b)(7) failure-to-join argument fared no better. Judge Daniel noted that dismissal on that ground requires a showing that the requirements of Rule 19 have been satisfied — a showing Helia made no effort to make. Quoting Askew v. Sheriff of Cook County, he observed that dismissal for failure to join a party "is not the preferred outcome under the Rules."
Helia operates skilled nursing facilities in Illinois and Missouri, according to the complaint.
The company must answer the complaint by April 3, 2026, with a scheduling conference set for April 23, 2026.