Thirteen employees fired
for time-card fraud have sued Kaiser Permanente for racial discrimination. The lawsuit
was filed in a
employees and one Fijian-Indian employee who formerly worked for the healthcare
organization in
The lawsuit grew out of a
recently installed time-card system that requires employees to clock in and out
by calling a central number using dedicated phone lines. The fired employees
used their own cell phones to dial into the system. Kaiser claimed that they
were trying to defraud the system and receive pay for time not worked by
calling in even though they weren’t at work.
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The employees claim they
weren’t properly trained to use the new time-card system and that at least one supervisor
approved using personal cell phones for clocking in. And, they allege that
Kaiser didn’t fire white employees for similar infractions. The suit also
charges that white employees received preferential treatment on other matters,
including vacation scheduling and sick leave.