Huntington Memorial Hospital v. Superior Court

Most of the nurses at Huntington Memorial Hospital in Pasadena, California, work 12-hour shifts. Under state law, the hospital must pay its nurses one and one-half times their regular rate of pay when they work in excess of eight hours in one day. It must pay double time for work that exceeds 12 hours in one day.

In addition to overtime compensation, the hospital pays a “short-shift differential” when a 12-hour nurse works fewer than 10 hours in one day. In that event, the nurse earns an extra sum, about $4.00, for each hour worked. If a nurse works 10 hours or more, the hospital does not pay the differential for any hours.

A group of nurses filed this action against the hospital, alleging that the short-shift differential violates overtime laws because nurses who work longer hours are paid a lower hourly wage. The hospital moved for summary adjudication on this issue, which the trial court denied.

The hospital filed a petition for writ of mandate with this court. We issued an order to show cause, established a briefing schedule, and set the matter for oral argument. We conclude that the trial court properly denied summary adjudication because there are disputed issues…