A federal court in Virginia entered a judgment ordering a medical staffing agency to pay more than $7.2 million for willfully misclassifying workers as independent contractors and shortchanging overtime pay, both violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act.

The judgment in the US District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia requires Medical Staffing of America LLC — doing business as Steadfast Medical Staffing — to pay at least $3,619,716 in back wages and at least $3,619,716 in liquidated damages to 1,105 employees. However, because the court ordered the department’s solicitor of labor to update the back wages to the present, the final amount is expected to be “substantially” higher, according to a US Department of Labor news release.

Steadfast Medical Staffing, based in Norfolk, Virginia, provides medical personnel to healthcare facilities nationwide. 

The division’s investigation determined that since at least Aug. 18, 2015, Steadfast Medical Staffing willfully misclassified the aides and nurses as independent contractors. By misclassifying the workers, the medical staffing agency paid them straight-time wages instead of time-and-a-half when they worked over 40 hours in a workweek, according to the US Department of Labor. Steadfast Medical Staffing also failed to maintain accurate records of total weekly hours worked.

The company has not responded to SIA's request for comment.

The action follows an investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division and litigation by the Solicitor of Labor. The court’s decision ends litigation filed in 2018 by the department after Steadfast Medical Staffing refused to pay back wages owed and come into compliance after the investigation.