In a civil action filed on May 20, 2024, in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana, Ashleigh Cashe has lodged a complaint against St. Tammany Parish Hospital Service District No. 1, operating as St. Tammany Parish Health System. The lawsuit alleges violations of federal and state labor laws, specifically under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) and the Louisiana Wage Payment Act.
Cashe, who was employed as an x-ray and cat scan technician at St. Tammany Health System's Mandeville Emergency Department from February 5, 2018, through June 2, 2022, claims that she was systematically denied lawful compensation for her work hours. According to the complaint, Cashe worked two sixteen-hour shifts each week but was not properly compensated for her lunch breaks. "During her shifts," the filing states, "St. Tammany Health Systems deducted thirty minutes from every shift worked for a thirty-minute lunch break; however, policy required that she stay on the premises and was required to remain on call and continue working."
The plaintiff further alleges that despite being instructed by managers to be available within five minutes during her supposed breaks—even allowing brief trips next door—she never had full relief to take a proper lunch break. This policy led to unpaid wages that Cashe discovered only after transitioning to another hospital job where she noticed discrepancies in her paychecks.
The complaint asserts that these practices constitute willful violations of both the FLSA and the Louisiana Wage Payment Act. Specifically, it argues that under FLSA regulations, employees must be completely relieved from duty during meal periods unless they are compensated for any work performed during those times.
Cashe seeks several forms of relief from the court: declaratory judgment declaring the hospital's practices unlawful under FLSA; payment of unpaid back wages along with liquidated damages equal to those unpaid wages; attorney’s fees; pre-judgment and post-judgment interest; costs associated with bringing forth this lawsuit; penalty wages under state law; and any other legal or equitable relief deemed appropriate by the court.
Representing Ashleigh Cashe is attorney Stephanie Dovalina of Dovalina Law Group based in New Orleans. The case has been assigned Case ID 2:24-cv-01312-SM-EJD.