MEDFORD, Ore. (Mar. 20, 2026) — A class action lawsuit filed in Jackson County Circuit Court accuses Asante of multiple wage and hour violations affecting thousands of healthcare workers across Southern Oregon.
The lawsuit was filed March 18 by a member of the Oregon Nurses Association and alleges the health system engaged in improper payroll practices, including time rounding, unauthorized deductions and failure to pay for all hours worked.
According to the complaint, the alleged violations include not paying employees for missed meal and rest breaks, failing to pay earned wage differentials and not issuing wages in a timely manner. The suit also claims employee timecards were modified in some cases.
The plaintiffs are seeking to recover unpaid wages, statutory penalties and other damages, and to require changes to payroll practices.
Union representatives estimate approximately 6,000 hourly workers may have been affected since 2020, including about 5,000 current employees. The filing alleges roughly $500,000 in unpaid wages, with additional penalties and damages that could exceed $2 million.
The complaint focuses in part on the practice of rounding employee time entries. Under Oregon law, employees must be paid for all hours worked. The lawsuit alleges rounding practices resulted in workers not being compensated for time worked before or after scheduled shifts.
In one example described in the filing, an employee who clocks in several minutes before a shift or clocks out after a shift may not be paid for that additional time due to rounding.
The lawsuit also alleges employees were not compensated for missed breaks in some instances and that time records were altered after being reviewed.
Asante operates hospitals, clinics and medical offices across nine counties in Southern Oregon and Northern California and employs more than 6,000 workers.
The Oregon Nurses Association represents more than 1,450 registered nurses and technical workers at Asante Rogue Regional Medical Center in Medford.
Medford Alert News reached out to Asante for comment, and received the following response: “We do not comment on active legal matters.”
You can read a copy of the lawsuit filed lawsuit here.
The allegations have not been proven in court.
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