Frequently Asked Questions

A lawsuit was filed against AHS Management, Inc. and BSA Health System Management, LLC (“Ardent”) for unpaid overtime under a federal law, the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), 29 U.S.C. § 201 et seq. The case is Hill v. AHS Management Company, Inc. et al., No. 3:23-cv-01045, in the United States District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee.

The lawsuit involves certain non-exempt employees who worked for Ardent entities during the time period from December 11, 2021, to February 17, 2022, and whose pay may have been affected by the Kronos system outage, which affected pay periods between November 28, 2021, and February 25, 2022.

The lawsuit was filed by Vanessa Hill, a former employee of an Ardent entity, who believes that she and other employees were not paid properly and/or on time after Kronos Private Cloud, which Ardent used for certain timekeeping and payroll functions, experienced an outage (“Kronos Outage”). The lawsuit claims that Ardent did not timely or accurately pay employees for all hours worked in the pay periods between November 28, 2021, and February 25, 2022, due to the Kronos Outage.

The Court has not determined that Ardent is liable or did anything wrong. Instead, the employees and Ardent reached a settlement to resolve the case without further litigation. The Court overseeing the lawsuit has approved that settlement. As a result, certain non-exempt employees who worked for Ardent during the Kronos Outage may join the lawsuit and receive a payment in connection with the settlement.

You have been identified from Ardent’s records as an employee who worked for a relevant Ardent entity during the Kronos Outage and who is eligible to recover money from the settlement. To be eligible to join the lawsuit and participate in this settlement, you must have been employed by an Ardent entity as a non-exempt employee during the time period from December 11, 2021 to February 17, 2022, in a job where you tracked working time using Kronos Private Cloud (or would have tracked working time using Kronos Private Cloud but for the Kronos Outage).

To recover money as part of the settlement, you must join the lawsuit by signing and returning the Consent to Join Form. If you do not join the lawsuit, you will not receive any money.

Your settlement payment is a proportional amount representing potentially late or unpaid wages, based on the amount in the settlement fund. It is calculated on a formula that considers the number of hours that you worked for Ardent during the Kronos Outage.

Your settlement payment will be split between two checks, which together will equal your full settlement amount:

• Wage portion (25%) — subject to applicable tax withholdings; you will receive an IRS Form W-2.
• Liquidated damages portion (75%) — not subject to withholdings; you will receive an IRS Form 1099.

The total estimated amount you will receive if you choose to join this lawsuit and participate in the settlement is shown on the notice mailed to you.

If you sign and return the Consent Form, you will be acknowledging that you:

1. are joining this lawsuit;
2. are represented by Parmet Law PC and Morgan & Morgan, P.A. (together, the “Collective Attorneys”);
3. will be bound by the terms of the attorney-client agreement signed by Vanessa Hill; and
4. will be bound by the terms of the Settlement Agreement signed by Vanessa Hill.

You will not have to pay the Collective Attorneys any money directly. Ardent is paying attorneys’ fees and costs as part of the settlement as a percentage of the overall recovery. In addition, the Court has approved a service award to Vanessa Hill, the former employee who filed the lawsuit, which will also be paid from the settlement fund.

By signing and returning the Consent Form you will be opting in to the lawsuit and joining the settlement. You understand that by doing so, you are waiving and releasing all wage and hour claims against Ardent related to the Kronos Outage, including but not limited to those for unpaid wages, late payment of wages, and overtime, including penalties under federal, state and local law, during the period beginning November 28, 2021 and ending on August 17, 2026, related to the Kronos Outage.

While the Court approved this settlement, the Court did not determine that Ardent (or anyone else) did anything wrong or is liable. The Court did not determine you are owed any money. Instead, this is a settlement payment reached as a compromise between the parties to avoid further litigation.

Do not contact the Court regarding this settlement. The Court must remain neutral in this matter and cannot give you advice.

Ardent does not agree it did anything wrong or that it is liable in this case. Ardent also claims you were paid correctly and fairly for your hours worked. Ardent also does not agree that a collective action (group lawsuit) is appropriate. Ardent does agree, however, that this settlement is a fair resolution to this lawsuit.

No adverse employment action will be taken against you because you choose to join or not join this lawsuit and settlement.