A contract nurse at a Missouri hospital filed a lawsuit against her former employer over allegations of unlawful hour cuts, St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported Aug. 25.
The plaintiff, Angela Schuster, RN, said she and other contract nurses signed contracts with St. Luke's Hospital that guaranteed at least three dozen 12-hour night shifts for 13 weeks, according to the lawsuit.
The agreements were signed in April 2022. The Chesterfield, Mo.-based hospital is accused of canceling shifts, placing contract nurses on standby and deducting wages earned while on standby.
The organization created an internal program "to eliminate all contracted agency RNs and to add more stability to St. Luke's current night shift workforce due to vacancies in specific areas," the lawsuit said, according to the Post-Dispatch.
A spokesperson told Becker's the hospital is reviewing the lawsuit and it does not comment on pending litigation.