Judge OKs deal in wage theft claim against Valley Children’s. Some nurses upset
A Madera County judge has approved a $400,000 settlement between Valley Children’s Hospital and employees who launched a class action wage theft lawsuit against the nonprofit three years ago.
The lawsuit filed in 2022 by nurses Briana Westfall and Gloria Garcia, on behalf of themselves and all other affected staff, claims the hospital committed multiple labor code violations, including failure to pay all wages and overtime, provide for proper meal and rest breaks, and reimburse expenses, among other allegations.
The settlement reimburses thousands of members of the class, including nurses, who worked at Valley Children’s between June 2019 and April 2024.
In a Thursday statement, Valley Children’s said: “Although Valley Children’s Hospital believes it complied with the law and that it has always paid its employees correctly, the hospital decided to settle the lawsuit in order to continue focusing on providing the best care for children throughout the Central Valley.”
The approval by Madera County Superior Court Judge Michael Jurkovich came after more than 40 Valley Children’s staff objected to the settlement in writing, and five nurses did so in person at the Thursday hearing in Madera.
The nurses who spoke against the settlement argued the deal did not adequately consider employee claims related to less-than-minimum-wage pay for mandatory time spent “on-call,” which refers to hours nurses spent on standby in case they were called in to work. The settlement releases Valley Children’s from any claims for on-call wage violations that took place before April 2024.
“On-call” wage violation claims are the subject of a different lawsuit against the hospital filed in June 2024 by registered nurse Bonnie Ferreria on behalf of herself and all other employees affected between 2020 and 2024. Ferreria has said the latest settlement will reimburse her only $54.58, though she estimates in her lawsuit that she is owed “not less than $27,832” in damages related to being paid less than the minimum wage while “on-call.”
“The Westfall settlement will undermine the fair compensation of those providing care to our valley’s youngest and most vulnerable patients,” Ferreria said Thursday in court. “The Westfall settlement will unfairly release Valley Children’s responsibility to fairly compensate employees for their on-call time.”
Brian Whelan, Ferreria’s attorney, said after the hearing that his client will be appealing approval of the settlement.
“If we don’t appeal, (Ferreria’s) case is limited to two months of claims,” Whelan said, referring to the time period between April and June 2024.
Whelan added that Ferreria’s case will eventually go to trial.
Ferreria’s lawsuit came on the heels of an executive pay controversy last year. It also prompted Fresno City Attorney Andrew Janz to announce last summer that his office would be investigating whether Valley Children’s, based in Madera County, committed wage theft at its Fresno facilities.
The hospital, widely regarded as a top-notch facility for children, came under fire in March 2024, when it was revealed that its top-paid executives received multi-million-dollar compensation packages in recent years. Nonprofit federal tax filings showed CEO Todd Suntrapak received a total compensation of about $3 million in 2023.
Suntrapak was compensated more than $5 million in 2021 and 2022, and also received a $5 million forgivable loan from the hospital in 2022 to purchase a home. That year, only two other CEOs of the nation’s largest children’s hospitals with more beds than Valley Children’s received a larger annual compensation.
“Our administrators have been scrutinized for their financial compensation being among the top earners in their market,” Sharon Robinson, another nurse, said Thursday. “Yet, they neglect to pay us market rates for our work. That’s unacceptable.”
Valley Children’s nurses object, judge overrules
During her testimony, Ferreria said the hospital continues to pay employees $8 per hour while they are on mandatory standby. She also called Valley Children’s requirements for “on-call” employees “extreme.”
Valley Children’s did not answer The Bee’s specific questions about “on-call” pay levels and the responsibilities “on-call” employees are subject to.
Ferreria said the nurses are required to be ready to receive patients at the hospital within 30 minutes of being called in, making it impossible for these staff to engage in other work or personal responsibilities.
Beverly Edwardson, another nurse, said she provides Valley Children’s 30 hours of “on-call” time each month.
“It restricts my monetary income because I don’t make my regular wage during those hours,” Edwardson said. “And there are a lot of obligations that I have to be able to do when I get home.”
But the objections did not persuade the judge, who ruled that the settlement does address “on-call” claims because it considers the allegation that Valley Children’s did not pay employees for “all hours worked.”
He also struck down the argument that the disposition did not adequately investigate “on-call” claims.
“I can’t imagine the emotions that run through your clients minds as they go through this process,” the judge said during the hearing, “but it’s not for me to make the law.”
This story was originally published May 23, 2025 at 6:15 AM.
