CHICAGO (LN) — A federal judge in Chicago denied Helia Healthcare Services, LLC's motion to dismiss a putative class action Tuesday, ruling the nursing home operator failed to mount any real legal argument against claims it automatically docked workers' pay for breaks they never took and shortchanged overtime rates for hourly employees.
Amanda High, who worked for Helia from October 2022 until March 2025, alleges the company automatically deducted thirty minutes per day from recorded hours even when employees worked through those breaks without compensation. She also claims Helia excluded bonuses from the regular rate of pay when calculating overtime — a separate hit to workers who regularly logged more than forty hours a week.
Helia's two-page motion to dismiss did not contest the legal sufficiency of those allegations. Instead, the company simply asserted it never employed High, denied deducting thirty minutes per day from paychecks, and argued High had failed to name a necessary party. It attached a purported pay stub, an email between counsel, and a memo on the company's lunch-break timekeeping policy to support its position.
U.S. District Judge Jeremy C. Daniel was unimpressed. He refused to consider any of those documents, noting they were not mentioned in High's complaint and therefore fell outside the narrow exception that allows courts to review extrinsic materials at the pleading stage without converting the motion to a summary judgment proceeding.
The veracity of the plaintiff's allegations is not at issue at the pleading stage, Daniel wrote, citing the Seventh Circuit's decision in Swanson v. Citibank, N.A. Because Helia never challenged the sufficiency of High's factual allegations, the Rule 12(b)(6) and Rule 12(c) grounds for dismissal collapsed on their own.
The Rule 12(b)(7) argument — that High failed to join a necessary party — fared no better. Daniel noted that dismissal on that ground requires a defendant to first establish that the requirements of Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 19 are satisfied, and that Helia made no effort to do so. He cited the Seventh Circuit's observation that such dismissal is not the preferred outcome under the Rules.
High 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 others similarly situated. Helia operates skilled nursing facilities in Illinois and Missouri.
Helia must answer the complaint and the case moves to a scheduling conference. The company's two-page motion, filed without a supporting brief on the merits, leaves it with no rulings in its favor to appeal.