Houston hospital system faces lawsuit over labor dispute

A lawsuit that claims Houston Methodist wrongly deducted break-pay for nurses is moving forward after a federal judge approved a motion Nov. 14. Houston Methodist allegedly deducted 30 minutes' worth of pay from some 4,000 nurses for lunch breaks, despite the fact that the nurses were never fully removed from their duties, the suit claims. Houston Methodist uses special codes in its payroll system for nurses who don't get 20 uninterrupted minutes at lunch to help compensate for the time.