May 17, 2021 (Madison, WI) - The legal team consisting of Jason Knutson and Breanne Snapp from Habush Habush & Rottier, and Caitlin Madden and Natalie Gerloff of Hawks Quindel, recently notched another arbitration victory against Verona-based healthcare IT giant Epic Systems. The Arbitrator decided that Epic misclassified the Technical Writer (“TW”) as overtime exempt and ordered payment of back overtime wages. Many similar cases are currently pending.

 

Since 2019, TWs have been victorious in individual arbitration hearings across the country. The wins are especially significant given the lengths Epic has gone to avoid paying overtime wages in these cases. Epic fought all the way to the US Supreme Court to force these claims into arbitration and has brought each one through hearing, delaying payment of the overtime owed for years. 

 

Attorney Caitlin Madden of Hawks Quindel commented,

 

“Here we have arbitrators across the country, telling Epic that they have misclassified these TWs and owe them overtime wages. To achieve these results validates the experience of our clients after years of working through the arbitration system to enforce the objectives of federal law. “

 

The individual cases originated from a class action filed in early 2015 by Jacob Lewis, a former TW. Epic spent the next three years arguing to federal courts that Lewis and his colleagues could not file a case together because they were subject to Epic’s forced arbitration provision. The Lewis case made its way up to the United States Supreme Court and was decided in 2018. A 5-4 majority came down in favor of Epic, deciding that employers can currently deprive their workers of the right to bring disputes collectively in a court of law. Despite the Court’s ruling, many are hopeful that forced arbitration will soon be banned legislatively in the employment and consumer contexts. The FAIR Act, which would bar companies from forcing employees or consumers into arbitration to resolve disputes, passed the House in 2019. 

 

While the Supreme Court’s ruling resolved the issue of where and how Epic employees can bring their claims, it did not decide the underlying issue – is Epic legally required to pay its TWs overtime?  The analysis begins with the text of the Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”), a statute mandating that all employees be paid overtime, including salaried employees, unless their employer can prove they qualify for an exemption. 

 

The primary exemption relied upon by Epic is called the “administrative exemption,” which requires that the employee’s primary job duty be directly related to the management or general business operations of the employer or the employer’s customers. Examples of work that may qualify for the exemption include tax, finance, accounting, human resources, and advertising. The exemption also requires that an employee have discretion and independent judgment with respect to matters of significance for the employer, such as authority to bind the company or implement management policies.

 

The answer to this underlying legal question would be resolved by trying individual claims in arbitration, a process which began in 2019. Attorney Jason Knutson of Habush Habush & Rottier explained,

 

“Epic has continued to do everything it can to deny paying its employees the overtime pay they’ve earned.  Rather than just change its pay practice to conform to the law, Epic has tried to hide its conduct by forcing these cases into private arbitration instead of letting them be tried in open court.  Fortunately for the employees, the end result has been the right one and they are being awarded the overtime pay they earned all along.”

 

And then the decisions started coming down – arbitrators overwhelmingly sided with Epic employees, awarding overtime, attorney fees and costs, and sometimes additional damages. Because TWs are producing documentation that comes with Epic’s software, arbitrators generally concluded they are not performing work directly related with the running or servicing of Epic’s or its client’s businesses. One arbitrator explained,

 

“…obvious to the arbitrator is the salient fact that there is no similarity between the work performed by [Claimant] and the…examples of functional areas of work directly related to management or general business operation of the employer or its customers…[Claimant] had virtually no direct contact with any of the end users of Epic’s software but merely posted his deliverables on a website to which customers had access.”

 

Despite these outcomes, Epic continues to litigate every case at a staggering cost, unbeknownst to most of its employees and the public at large. Breanne Snapp of Habush Habush & Rottier commented,

 

“Epic has now spent millions and millions of dollars attempting to evade our country’s overtime laws. What makes it all the more unbelievable is that Epic could’ve solved the problem at a fraction of the cost by simply paying these employees overtime. Why they prefer to pay attorneys and arbitrators rather than their own employees is baffling.”

 

While Epic’s conduct may be hard to understand, what’s crystal clear is that the Habush and Hawks Team will never stop fighting for workers’ rights, whether it is in court or arbitration.

 

For more information, contact: 

Attorney Caitlin Madden

Hawks Quindel S.C.

cmadden@hq-law.com

608-257-0040

Attorney Breanne Snapp

Habush Habush & Rottier S.C.®

bsnapp@habush.com

608-255-6663

Employees 2, Epic 0

Habush Habush & Rottier and Hawks Quindel S.C. have won their second arbitration against Epic. Full details here, but I expect a lot more of the same. Everyone who was in the previous class action suit has been pushed to individual arbitration, and this is the second case to complete the process. I'm not sure what the price tag is for a single arbitration case, but I bet Epic's wishing at this point that they could just do a class action suit and get this over with.

Arbitration LOL

That employers can force employees into arbitration instead of class action lawsuits is old news. New news is that the law firms of Habush Habush & Rottier and Hawks Quindel have won the first arbitration agreement. Epic's gotta pay overtime, at least to the one technical writer in the agreement.

The Fat Lady Hasn't Sung Yet on Epic Systems v Lewis

I just saw this: Dems Stake Out Their Turf With Bill Targeting Epic Systems. Law360 reports that Representatives from New York and Virginia have introduced a bill (H.R 7109)in Congress that would ban class action waiver provisions and requirements to settle disputes only by arbitration in employment contracts. The Senate is working on a similar bill, according to the article, but doesn't have any information on that.

Further bulletins as events warrant.

The Supreme Court Case and What It Means to You

Opening act: I've recently been getting a lot of questions about the blacklist (see previous posts here and here). I have it documented somewhere that if you leave within 90 days after a go-live, you're blacklisted. The current concerns are around when you can leave during implementation. For example, for an 18 month project with Epic involvement, if customer analysts leave during the "direction" phase (fka "design, build, validate", i.e., before the go-live), will they be blacklisted? #askingforafriend

Headliner: It's been a few months since Epic Systems Corp v Lewis went to the Supreme Court, and I've been conspicuously silent on the outcome. Too many articles were coming out too frequently to read, and the articles seemed pretty evenly split on whether this was a good or bad decision.

Upon reflection, it's definitely bad. It was this section of a currentaffairs.org article that convinced me:

Since the employees couldn’t organize beforehand to demand their employers respect their legal rights, they attempted to do so on the back end through class action lawsuits—where they could all go to court and hold the employer’s feet to the fire.
But, according to the Supreme Court, employees banding together to sue employers about their illegal labor practices is not the sort of “concerted activity” the NLRA was meant to protect.

I used to be very vehemently anti-union, but my mind has changed the as I've had more jobs. The job I had that was the most fair, the most protected against abuses, was for a company with over half of its employees belonging to a union. Needless to say, that job wasn't in IT.

So, this ruling sucks. IT workers need a union.

So you just got Hired at Epic. Now what?

I started this blog seven years ago because I had no idea how to manage my life without a job. I couldn't find any resources on the internet, so I documented my own process. I've grown a lot in the last several years, and come across various resources that didn't exist back then. So, in the spirit of the season, a gift:


You get paid well at Epic for the stage of life that most new hires will be. Expenses in Dane County are low, if you're not a moron. It would be very easy to save a substantial chunk of your income, and with the right lifestyle habits, a person can work at Epic for a few years, maybe consult for a few years, and then have enough to retire for life.


Enter Mr Money Mustache. He advocates frugality and aggressive saving/investing. Live close to where you work. Arrange your life so you don't need a car. ("What about winter?" you're saying. Hold your horses.) Throw parties at home with booze that you bought at Woodman's, rather than hanging out in bars on Capitol Square.


On Zillow, The average rent for a 1 or 2 bedroom dwelling in Verona is around $1000. Average salaries, according to Glassdoor, are big, to say the least. Get out of Madison, and move closer to Epic.


Assuming a salary of $57,000 per year, that's a gross pay of 4800 per month. For single folks in 2018, that puts you in a 22% tax bracket. Married folks are in the 12% tax bracket. I'm going to assume singleness for the math that follows. I don't remember how much insurance cost at Epic, and whatever other stuff came out of pre-tax--someone with current figures can comment below, and I'll update here.


So, from $4800, subtract $300 for various pre-tax deductions: Insurance (maybe?), 401(k), cafeteria.
From $4500, take off 22%.
From $3500, subtract $1000 for rent. (Get a roommate and split that.)
From $2500, you ought to be able to live comfortably and save a ton.
If you have a car payment, get rid of it. Sell your SUV and buy a used hatchback and snow tires.
Don't eat at restaurants. A single person ought to be able to eat well on less than $400 a month. Learn to cook.
Read Mr Money Mustache's case studies and get other ideas. The main tips are live close to work and don't spend like a moron.






It is not difficult to live on $2000 or less, as a childless person in Verona. Invest that money using the tools that MMM recommends. When your investments pay you more than your expenses, then you're retired. Hooray!


"But my car!" you say. "I need it because it's cold!" Wisconsin winters suck. But I lived in the neighborhood in that Zillow link. The sidewalks between those houses and Epic are well-plowed and well-salted. It's a 15 minute walk to Fomalhaut, then heated and underground anywhere else you want to go. It's a 10 minute drive to the parking garages. Saving 10 minutes a day is not worth $500 in car payments, gasoline, and insurance.


You can do it. The best way to survive getting fired from Epic is to not need a job in the first place.


Update 3/6/18:
You're going to travel while you're at Epic, and Epic is going to pay for everything. Turn a profit on that with a rewards credit card. I use Chase Freedom, and am quite happy with it. It currently offers 1% back on all purchases, with 5% back on certain categories that rotate out every quarter (currently anything with Chase Pay, and internet/cell phone bills). Help me help you by using the referral link above.
Also, the Qapital app helps with savings goals. Link your bank account, and create rules to automatically save for whatever goal you want. Rules can be "round up every purchase to the nearest dollar, and deposit the excess into your goal", "save X% of every deposit", or a slew of others. It's a great app. Use the referral link above, and we'll both $5.

Another Reason to Sue Epic?

A coworker of mine alerted me to this: Mayo Clinic Health Information Offered Through Epic Patient Apps


The article is from (late) April of this year, so it's not exactly breaking news. The article states that Mayo Clinic and Epic are partnering to include health education content published/created by Mayo through Epic's MyChart application.


Because I'm trying not to be a hack, I searched for other articles for confirmation. I found this one on Healthcare IT News: http://www.healthcareitnews.com/news/epic-mayo-clinic-team-integrate-symptom-checker-mychart-patient-portal. This article suggests that Epic will soon jump into the auto-diagnosis RoboDoc market. (I need a jpg of Robocop in a lab coat, now).


Being an Old Fart, I remember Microsoft getting in trouble for bundling MS Office software with its OS. Other health content vendors are available--Staywell, Relay Health, among others. If Mayo content gets provided with the software, how is that any different than the Microsoft antitrust lawsuit? If Corel was pissed then, Staywell should be livid now.

Epic at the Supreme Court

If you're interested, here's the oral arguments from the Epic's Supreme Court case.


text (78 page pdf)


downloadable audio file


Habush Habush and Rottier don't expect SCOTUS to make a final decision until winter or spring.

The Blacklist

(burying the lede)
Currently, the Supreme Court is deciding on the legality of Epic's clause in their employment contract that all disputes must be handled by individual arbitration--an action that Epic instituted to prevent all the class action lawsuits that they've been getting over the last few years. Here's a link to an article: TL;DR: SCOTUS is undecided, but not every justice has weighed in.




Lede:
I met a person who was actually affected by the heretofore-existed-only-in-threats-and-rumors Epic Blacklist. He was employed as an implementation analyst at a customer site (never an Epic employee) who was involved in various go-lives at that organization. We'll call him Ray.

After working with this customer and finishing a major go-live, Ray decided to leave the organization for some legitimate life reason, probably family related. His employer was cool with this, and it was an amicable separation. Ray wasn't fired, is what I'm saying. The employer liked him, was sorry to see him go, but was supportive of his future endeavors.

Ray got a job with an Epic-preferred consulting agency, and the agency asked Epic about his eligibility. Depending on which consulting firm agent asked which Epic employee, the firm received various answers as to when they could hire Ray--right now, a few months from now, or a calendar year after the hospital's go-live. The consulting firm found a placement for Ray at a new organization, but when it came time to actually get him working, the new org said it would cost them their "Good Install" to hire him. Ray ended up doing non-epic work until a year had elapsed.

It's real, people. And Epic enforces it by reaching into its customers' pocket books. Ray spoke to his consulting firm during all this, and the firm said that Epic set up Good Install/Good Maintenance as a way to have control over who gets to work on Epic products, without hairy legal issues. In effect, an Epic Client can hire whoever they want, but Epic might charge extra for the privilege of hiring certain people.

update:

A reader posted this on another page here:

How does leaving during an active implementation and/or go-live as a consultant/contractor affect your future job prospects? Can you be blacklisted for leaving a client abruptly? Not to pursue another client, but to take a long break.

Based on an N of 1, the blacklist is time-limited. If you leave during an active implementation, odds are good that you WILL get blacklisted. But the blacklist will probably only last a year. If your break is a year, then you shouldn't have any major consequences. If your break is a couple of months, you'll need to find some non-Epic work to do, or an Epic customer who doesn't mind pissing Judy off. Sutter Health comes to mind.

Talking Union

A person can learn a lot from folk songs. Email unionizeepic@gmail.com if you're interested. From the man himself, when I asked if there are any current organization activities going on:

I don't know of anything actively going on. I know a small handful interested in actively pursuing it, but I talk to people about it often and am surprised by the level of passive support. However, we haven't taken any action yet. I'm hoping to get something going in January [2017--I'm not prompt. Don't sue me--Admin].

Please post this email if you write about unionizing at all. I'm hoping to get things going after the new year or so.

If you know anyone still at Epic interested send them my way, please. Especially, if they would be interested in organizing and/or recruiting.

There you have it. Go forth and organize. Every movement starts somewhere, and listening to the soundtrack of the labor movement isn't a bad way to prepare.



A Book Review (of sorts)

I just finished reading Procrastinate on Purpose, by Rory Vaden. In an effort to organize my thoughts and determine how to apply the lessons to healthcare IT, here's this post.


The main points of the book are "work double-time part-time now, in order to have full-time free time later"; and the Focus Funnel (source):

The focus funnel goes hand-in-hand with the Eisenhower Decision Matrix (ugent vs important--"what is urgent is seldom important, and what is important is seldom urgent"). Vaden adds a Z-axis to the decision matrix for Significance. If Urgent asks "how soon does this matter," and Important asks "How much does this matter," then Significance asks "How long will this matter."


The Focus Funnel then asks the user to eliminate those tasks of no significance, automate any repeatable tasks, and delegate tasks that don't require the user's particular set of skills. If the task makes it through to the bottom of the funnel, then a decision needs to be made: Is this task the most significant thing I should be working on right now? If yes, do it. If not, put it back at the top of the funnel.


I grok at a visceral level how effective this is for those in control of their own task list. What I don't understand is how to apply it to my situation, where my workload is partially at my own discretion, but primarily driven by management--and the managers historically don't appreciate automation or delegation, and never eliminate anything. Healthcare IT is also plagued by IT-style busywork, compliance CYA, and patient care criticality. In addition to my actual work, I have to track it for data-driven bean counters, wrap it up in red tape to protect from malpractice suits, and do it all right now because lives are at stake.



I can apply Vaden's method to those tasks where I'm in full control, but I have limited empowerment to delegate. Let's say I'm assigned a task that can be done by anyone on the team, including fresh new hires. By assigning that work to me, it takes away time that I can spend on tasks where I have unique expertise.



Automating is similarly difficult. A task that costs an hour a day, every day, may require 40 hours to automate a permanent fix. The daily maintenance is urgent, as most things in health care IT are, so it still has to be performed alongside the permanent fix.



Eliminating tasks is easy. Managers have even less time than the grunts, so unless the managers are specifically measuring a task, eliminating the pointless stuff will most likely go completely unnoticed. (That only works if the task is truly without benefit.) Managers have limited insight into how one actually prioritizes, so the Concentrate/Procrastinate portion of the funnel is entirely up to me.



The problem then, is with the middle portion of the funnel--that takes a team. And I can't control my team. Without buy-in from the entire team and from management, delegation is unworkable. Without informed prioritization, getting permission to spend time on automation is difficult, but not impossible--I guess this is where the "work double time part time" comes in--if one 80-hour week saves an hour a day forever, that's an extra 250 hours a year that were just freed for more significant things. It also makes me look awesome in the eyes of management.


I encouraged my immediate supervisor to read it, and he might. Maybe change will happen from middle management outward. In the meantime, I work on the things that I can control, and prioritize based on a task's significance to my workload.

Supreme Court, Epic, and Arbitration

Over the last few weeks, I've seen a bunch of articles popping up about all the lawsuits that Epic is involved in. Read the links, they say it better than I could, but in summary:


Epic got sued a while back over lack of overtime pay. Epic settled, and then changed its employment agreement to require arbitration rather than lawsuits. Epic got sued again, lost, appealed, and the court of appeals said that forcing employees into arbitration was Not Good. Due to variances in different courts (7th Circuit vs 5th Circuit), people have asked the Supreme Court to give its opinion.


Epic: With the Patient at the Heart*


In other news, I thought this was pretty cool: Flint Doctor uses Epic to Expose Lead Crisis. It's almost a year old, but this is the good stuff that Epic should be doing (and getting credit for) all the time.


*and the Employee in the Lower GI Tract

Merry Christmas! (You're welcome)

The ICD-10 and Meaningful Use Illustrated books are still great Christmas gifts. I thought I saw an email that the books were now available at your favorite retail website, but I must have been mistaken.


Here's a list (about a year out of date) of Epic's customers. It's alphabetical--if you want to sort it, copy it into excel. Pipe delimited for convenience.


Name | State | Country
Access Community Health Network | Illinois | US
Admiraal De Ruyter Ziekenhuis |  | Netherlands
AdvantageCare Physicians | New York | US
Adventist Health West | Oregon | US
Akron Children's | Ohio | US
Alberta Health Services |  | Canada
All Children's Hospital | Florida | US
Allegheny Health Network | Pennsylvania | US
Allina Health System | Minnesota | US
Altru Health System | North Dakota | US
AMC - Vumc |  | Netherlands
Amphia Ziekenhuis |  | Netherlands
AnMed Health | South Carolina | US
Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago | Illinois | US
Anne Arundel Medical Center | Maryland | US
Asante Health System | Oregon | US
Ascension Health | Indiana | US
Ascension Health - Providence Healthcare Network | Texas | US
Aspirus | Wisconsin | US
Atlantic Health | New Jersey | US
Atrius Health | Massachusetts | US
Aurora Health Care | Wisconsin | US
Austin Regional Clinic | Texas | US
Banner – University Medical Center | Arizona | US
Baptist Health | Arkansas | US
Baptist Health System (AL) | Alabama | US
Baptist Healthcare System | Kentucky | US
Baptist Memorial Health Care | Tennessee | US
Bassett Healthcare | New York | US
Bayhealth Medical Center | Delaware | US
Baylor College of Medicine | Texas | US
Baylor Scott & White Health | Texas | US
Beacon Medical Services | Colorado | US
Beaumont Health | Michigan | US
Bend Memorial Clinic | Oregon | US
BJC HealthCare & Washington University | Missouri | US
Bon Secours Health System | Maryland | US
Chesapeake Regional Medical Center | Virginia | US
Boston Children's Hospital | Massachusetts | US
Boston Medical Center | Massachusetts | US
Bronson Healthcare Group | Michigan | US
Brookdale University Hospital and Medical Center | New York | US
Buffalo Medical Group | New York | US
Cambridge Health Alliance | Massachusetts | US
Cambridge University Hospitals NHS |  |
Care New England | Rhode Island | US
Carilion Clinic | Virginia | US
Carle | Illinois | US
Carolinas HealthCare System | North Carolina | US
CaroMont Health | North Carolina | US
Catholic Health Initiatives National | Colorado | US
Alegent Creighton Health | Nebraska | US
Franciscan Health System | Washington | US
St Luke's Health System (TX) | Texas | US
Catholic Health Services of Long Island | New York | US
Cedars-Sinai Health System | California | US
CentraCare | Minnesota | US
Centura Health | Colorado | US
Cheyenne Regional Medical Center | Wyoming | US
Children's Health System of Texas | Texas | US
Children's Healthcare of Atlanta | Georgia | US
Children's Hospital & Medical Center, Omaha | Nebraska | US
Children's Hospital Colorado | Colorado | US
Children's Hospital Eastern Ontario |  | Canada
Children's Hospital of Philadelphia | Pennsylvania | US
Children's Hospital of the King's Daughters | Virginia | US
Children's Hospital of Wisconsin | Wisconsin | US
CIGNA Medical Group of Arizona | Arizona | US
Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center | Ohio | US
Cleveland Clinic | Ohio | US
Cleveland Clinic Abu Dhabi |  |
Community Health Network | Indiana | US
Community Healthcare | Indiana | US
Community Medical Centers | California | US
Cone Health | North Carolina | US
Conemaugh Health System | Pennsylvania | US
Confluence Health | Washington | US
Connecticut Children's Medical Center | Connecticut | US
Contra Costa Health Services | California | US
Cooper University Health Care | New Jersey | US
Cottage Health System | California | US
Covenant HealthCare | Michigan | US
CVS Health | Rhode Island | US
Dartmouth-Hitchcock | New Hampshire | US
Dayton Children's Hospital | Ohio | US
Deaconess Health System | Indiana | US
Denmark Capital Region & Region Zealand |  | Denmark
Denver Health | Colorado | US
Dreyer Medical Clinic | Illinois | US
Driscoll Children's Hospital | Texas | US
Dubai Health Authority |  |
Duke University Health System | North Carolina | US
Dutch Demo System |  | Netherlands
East Boston Neighborhood Health Center | Massachusetts | US
Edward Hospital & Health Services / DuPage Medical Group | Illinois | US
El Camino Hospital | California | US
Elliot Health System | New Hampshire | US
Erlanger Health System | Tennessee | US
Eskenazi Health | Indiana | US
Essentia Health | Minnesota | US
Everett Clinic, The | Washington | US
Fairview Health Services | Minnesota | US
Florida Hospital | Florida | US
Foundation System |  | US
Franciscan Alliance, Inc. | Indiana | US
Franciscan Missionaries of Our Lady Health System, Inc. | Louisiana | US
Froedtert Health, Inc. | Wisconsin | US
Geisinger System Services | Pennsylvania | US
Geisinger Affiliates | Pennsylvania | US
Genesis Healthcare System | Ohio | US
Glens Falls Hospital | New York | US
Grady Health System | Georgia | US
Greater Baltimore Medical Center | Maryland | US
Greater Hudson Valley Health System, Inc. | New York | US
Greenville Health System | South Carolina | US
Self Regional Healthcare | South Carolina | US
Group Health Centre |  | Canada
Group Health Cooperative | Washington | US
Group Health Cooperative - South Central Wisconsin | Wisconsin | US
Gundersen Health System | Wisconsin | US
GW University Medical Faculty Associates | District of Columbia | US
Hackensack University Medical Center | New Jersey | US
Hamilton Health Sciences & St Joseph's Healthcare Hamilton |  | Canada
Harris Health System | Texas | US
Hartford HealthCare | Connecticut | US
Hattiesburg Clinic and Forrest County General Hospital | Mississippi | US
Hawaii Pacific Health | Hawaii | US
HCA National | Tennessee | US
HCA Central and West Texas | Texas | US
HCA Mountain | Utah | US
Health Ventures of Central Iowa | Iowa | US
HealthEast Care System | Minnesota | US
HealthPartners | Minnesota | US
Park Nicollet Health Services | Minnesota | US
Heart of Texas Community Health Center | Texas | US
Hennepin County Medical Center | Minnesota | US
Henry Ford Health System | Michigan | US
HonorHealth | Arizona | US
Hospital for Special Surgery | New York | US
Hospital Sisters Health System (HSHS) Division - Eastern Wisconsin | Wisconsin | US
Houston Methodist | Texas | US
Hurley Medical Center | Michigan | US
Indiana University Health Arnett | Indiana | US
Infirmary Health System | Alabama | US
Inova Health System | Virginia | US
Valley Health | Virginia | US
Institute for Family Health | New York | US
INTEGRIS Health | Oklahoma | US
John Muir Health | California | US
Johns Hopkins Aramco Healthcare |  |
Johns Hopkins Medicine | Maryland | US
JPS Health Network | Texas | US
JurongHealth |  | Singapore
Kadlec Health System | Washington | US
Kaiser Permanente - National | California | US
Kaiser Permanente - Colorado | Colorado | US
Kaiser Permanente - Georgia | Georgia | US
Kaiser Permanente - Hawaii | Hawaii | US
Kaiser Permanente - Mid-Atlantic | Maryland | US
Kaiser Permanente - N Cal | California | US
Kaiser Permanente - Northwest | Oregon | US
Kaiser Permanente - S Cal | California | US
Kelsey-Seybold Clinic | Texas | US
Kettering Health Network | Ohio | US
King's Daughters Medical Center | Kentucky | US
Lahey Health System | Massachusetts | US
Lakeland Healthcare | Michigan | US
Lancaster General Health | Pennsylvania | US
Lee Memorial Health System | Florida | US
Legacy Health | Oregon | US
Lehigh Valley Health Network | Pennsylvania | US
Leon Medical Center | Florida | US
Lexington County Health Services | South Carolina | US
Lifespan | Rhode Island | US
Loma Linda University Medical Center | California | US
Louisiana State University | Louisiana | US
Loyola Medicine | Illinois | US
LSPQ |  | Canada
MaineHealth | Maine | US
Maricopa Integrated Health System | Arizona | US
Martin Health System | Florida | US
Mayo Clinic | Minnesota | US
Medical University Of South Carolina | South Carolina | US
Medisch Centrum Leeuwarden |  | Netherlands
MediSys Health Network | New York | US
Memorial Health Services (MemorialCare) | California | US
Memorial Health, Inc. | Georgia | US
Memorial Healthcare System | Florida | US
Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center | New York | US
Mercy Health - MO (fka Sisters of Mercy) | Missouri | US
Mercy Health - OH (fka Catholic Health Partners) | Ohio | US
Summa Health System | Ohio | US
Mercy Health Services (MD) | Maryland | US
Mercy Health System - WI | Wisconsin | US
Mercy Medical Center | Iowa | US
Meriter Health Services | Wisconsin | US
Methodist Health System | Texas | US
Methodist Hospitals | Indiana | US
Metro Health - MI | Michigan | US
MetroHealth - OH | Ohio | US
Momentum Health | Oklahoma | US
Monroe Clinic | Wisconsin | US
Montefiore Medical Center | New York | US
Mount Auburn Hospital | Massachusetts | US
Mount Sinai Health System | New York | US
Mt Sinai - FL | Florida | US
MultiCare Health System | Washington | US
Nationwide Children's Hospital | Ohio | US
Nebraska Medicine | Nebraska | US
Nederlands fundamentsysteem |  | Netherlands
Nemours | Florida | US
New Hanover Regional Medical Center | North Carolina | US
New York City Health and Hospitals Corp | New York | US
North Memorial Health Care | Minnesota | US
North Oaks Health System | Louisiana | US
NorthShore University HealthSystem | Illinois | US
Northwest Community Hospital | Illinois | US
Northwestern Memorial Healthcare | Illinois | US
Cadence Health | Illinois | US
Norton Healthcare | Kentucky | US
Novant Health | North Carolina | US
NYU Langone Medical Center | New York | US
Oakwood Healthcare | Michigan | US
OCHIN | Oregon | US
Ochsner Health System | Louisiana | US
St. Tammany Parish Hospital | Louisiana | US
OhioHealth | Ohio | US
Oregon Health & Science University | Oregon | US
OSF HealthCare | Illinois | US
Overlake Hospital Medical Center | Washington | US
Owensboro Health | Kentucky | US
Pacific Medical Center | Washington | US
Palos Community Hospital | Illinois | US
Parkland | Texas | US
Parkview Health | Indiana | US
Partners HealthCare System | Massachusetts | US
PeaceHealth | Washington | US
Peninsula Regional Medical Center | Maryland | US
Piedmont Healthcare | Georgia | US
PinnacleHealth | Pennsylvania | US
Premier Health | Ohio | US
Presbyterian Healthcare Services | New Mexico | US
Presence Health | Illinois | US
Prime Healthcare | California | US
ProHealth | Wisconsin | US
ProMedica Health System | Ohio | US
Providence Health and Services | Washington | US
Providence Alaska | Alaska | US
Providence EMFI | Washington | US
Providence Oregon/California | Washington | US
Providence Washington | Washington | US
Swedish Medical Center | Washington | US
Queen's Health Systems, The | Hawaii | US
Radboudumc |  | Netherlands
Rady Children's | California | US
Reading Health System | Pennsylvania | US
Reliant Medical Group, Inc. | Massachusetts | US
Renown Healthcare | Nevada | US
RiverBend Medical Group | Massachusetts | US
Riverside Health System | Virginia | US
Riverside Medical Center | Illinois | US
Riverside Medical Clinic | California | US
Rochester Regional Health System | New York | US
Rockford Health System | Illinois | US
Royal Children's Hospital |  | Australia
Rush University Medical Center | Illinois | US
Saint Francis Care | Connecticut | US
Saint Francis Health System | Oklahoma | US
Saint Francis Healthcare System | Missouri | US
Saint Luke's Health System (MO) | Missouri | US
Salem Hospital Regional Health System | Oregon | US
Salem Clinic | Oregon | US
Samaritan Health Services | Oregon | US
Sanford Health | South Dakota | US
Sansum Clinic | California | US
Santa Clara Valley Medical Center | California | US
SCL Health | Colorado | US
Scripps Health | California | US
Seattle Children's Hospital | Washington | US
Sechaba Medical Solutions |  | South Africa
CHEIRON-GEN HEALTH |  | South Africa
Select Medical | Pennsylvania | US
Sentara Healthcare | Virginia | US
Singing River Health System | Mississippi | US
Sint Lucas Andreas Ziekenhuis |  | Netherlands
SLUCare / SSM-SLUH | Missouri | US
South Dakota State Lab | South Dakota | US
Southcoast Health System | Massachusetts | US
Spaarne Gasthuis |  | Netherlands
Sparrow Health System | Michigan | US
Spartanburg Regional Healthcare System | South Carolina | US
Spectrum Health | Michigan | US
SSM Health | Missouri | US
SSM Health Care of Wisconsin | Wisconsin | US
St Anthony's Medical Center | Missouri | US
St Elizabeth Healthcare | Kentucky | US
St Jansdal Ziekenhuis |  | Netherlands
St Joseph's Hospital Health Center | New York | US
St Luke's Health System (Idaho) | Idaho | US
St Luke's University Health Network | Pennsylvania | US
Stanford Children's Health | California | US
Stanford Health Care | California | US
Stormont-Vail HealthCare | Kansas | US
SUNY Upstate Medical University | New York | US
Sutter Health | California | US
SwedishAmerican Health System | Illinois | US
Tampa General Hospital | Florida | US
University of South Florida | Florida | US
TempleHealth | Pennsylvania | US
Texas Children's Hospital | Texas | US
Texas Health Resources | Texas | US
Texas Scottish Rite Hospital for Children | Texas | US
The Christ Hospital | Ohio | US
The Guthrie Clinic | Pennsylvania | US
The Ohio State University's Wexner Medical Center | Ohio | US
The Portland Clinic | Oregon | US
The University of Vermont Medical Center | Vermont | US
ThedaCare | Wisconsin | US
Bellin Health | Wisconsin | US
Thomas Jefferson University Health System | Pennsylvania | US
TriHealth | Ohio | US
Trinity Mother Frances | Texas | US
Tucson Medical Center | Arizona | US
UC Health | Ohio | US
UCLA Medical Center | California | US
UCSF Benioff Children's Hospital Oakland | California | US
UCSF Medical Center | California | US
UMass Memorial Health Care | Massachusetts | US
UNC Health Care | North Carolina | US
United States Coast Guard | District of Columbia | US
UnityPoint Health | Iowa | US
University Health (BRF) | Louisiana | US
University Health Care System | Georgia | US
University Hospital | New Jersey | US
University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences | Arkansas | US
University of California Davis | California | US
University of California San Diego | California | US
University of Chicago Hospitals | Illinois | US
University of Colorado Health | Colorado | US
University of Florida | Florida | US
University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics | Iowa | US
University of Kansas Hospital | Kansas | US
University of Maryland Medical System | Maryland | US
University of Miami | Florida | US
University of Michigan | Michigan | US
University of Mississippi Medical Center | Mississippi | US
University of Pennsylvania Health System | Pennsylvania | US
University of Pittsburgh Medical Center | Pennsylvania | US
University of Rochester Medical Center | New York | US
University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center | Texas | US
University of Texas Medical Branch | Texas | US
University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center | Texas | US
University of Utah Hospitals & Clinics | Utah | US
University of Virginia Medical Center | Virginia | US
UT Medicine San Antonio | Texas | US
UW Health | Wisconsin | US
UW Medicine | Washington | US
Valley Medical Center | Washington | US
Vancouver Clinic | Washington | US
Vanderbilt University Medical Center | Tennessee | US
Vidant Health | North Carolina | US
Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center | North Carolina | US
WakeMed Health and Hospitals | North Carolina | US
Washington Hospital Health System | California | US
Weill Cornell Physician Organization | New York | US
Wellmont Health System | Tennessee | US
WellSpan Health | Pennsylvania | US
WellStar | Georgia | US
West Virginia University Healthcare | West Virginia | US
Wheaton Franciscan | Wisconsin | US
Wisconsin State Lab | Wisconsin | US
Wolcott, Wood & Taylor (UIC) | Illinois | US
Women's College Hospital |  | Canada
Yakima Valley Farm Workers Clinic | Washington | US
Yale New Haven Health System and Yale University | Connecticut | US
Yuma | Arizona | US

New Lawsuit Filed Against Epic, and more!

A new lawsuit was filed against Epic this week, and it's pretty much Nordgren v Epic, version 2. The only change is the time frame for the class: QAers who worked at Epic after Epic implemented its arbitration-only rule. As ever, Epic could not be reached for comment, which at this point deserves to be a 14th Principle: Never talk to the press (Epic does this one really well).


Other news: I've been asked a few times about including a bona fide forum on this site, and I'm having trouble making a decision. Some feel it would be helpful, but I'm worried about maintaining anonymity. Leave a comment, and let me know how you feel about it. When I get enough meaningful feedback, I'll install a forum (or not).


This is from an email I received about a year ago, concerning the job prospects for someone leaving the Developer role at Epic:

On job opportunities - This is from a developer perspective, naturally, though some parts may apply to QAers too.

a) Your skills are useless outside of Epic. Unless you are one of the privileged few to be working on mobile apps or Web stuff, your skills will not transfer at all. Cache is not used as much as it used to be, Wikipedia is wrong. Wall Street doesn't use it in any significant amount, and even if there is a hedge fund or two that still does, you ain't getting that job without a PhD, a half decade of experience, and contacts within the industry. And VB6 is a goddamn joke, don't even list it on your resume if you can help it. The sooner you get used to this, the sooner you can work around it.

b) It's not hopeless, but expect an uphill battle. If you want to stay in Madison, Epic has an iffy reputation among other development shops. I was flat out told in one interview that the only reason I didn't get the job is that Epic's technology and taught skill set is too old to transfer to the new company. I would highly advise you to (a) move out of Madison to an area where Epic doesn't have such an entrenched reputation, (b) consider a technical non-dev position (QA, IT analyst, technical writer, etc) where specific skills in specific languages don't matter as much, or (c) have a damn good Github or personal projects page. The reason I got so many calls back/interviews was because I did a lot of independent work in modern programming languages. Definitely brush up on Java and relational databases, that's what most (local) jobs want to see. If you really are struggling, find a community college and take an intro to Java class to refresh.

c) Even if you get an offer, don't expect anywhere near Epic salaries. The benefits Epic offers are standard, perfectly mediocre, so you probably won't notice much of a change in those. But it is a shock to go from making 6 figures to accepting a 30-40% pay cut. Thankfully, my new job is in an area I've always loved to work in, so that's personally a tradeoff I don't mind making. But you do need to consider that. Expect most entry-level jobs (which, let's face it, you need to apply for) to offer $60k-$70k. If you're a good negotiator, you can probably swing a $1k-$2k sign-on bonus. Long gone are the days of 5 figure sign-on bonuses like Epic gives.

A Patient-Centric Database

I've been thinking a lot lately about patient registries, accountable care networks, and Healthy Planet-type stuff. Personal fact: I'm prone to think up conspiracy-theories and am, at the macro-level, a glass-half-empty person. When you put the two together, it makes this blogger concerned about the future of healthcare.


"With the Patient at the Heart" is printed on the back of Epic's business cards, and emblazoned proudly on company vehicles. I've worked at different organizations that had similar slogans about patients being first and foremost and the most important thing. The underlying sentiment with these slogans is that each patient is a unique individual, and each patient deserves personalized care.

Healthy Planet (and its primary drivers, Obamacare and MU) are active obstacles to that. No longer is Joe Smith a relatively healthy male and a compliant patient with diabetes whose lab tests happen to run slightly abnormal, he's now the 37th entry on the list of patients with an A1C over 7. He's been on that list for a year now, and gets a letter every month saying he needs to come in for a checkup. Mr Smith's doctor is worried, because even though Joe is healthy and doing everything to correctly manage his diabetes, the lab tests run high enough that the doctor gets dinged on his metrics. The doctor is therefore considering dropping Mr Smith as a patient.

Enter Accountable Care Networks. Now, not only is Medicare tracking all your stats, but your employer is too. And because your employer is paying the hospitals, your employer has a vested interested in your health. The healthier you are, the cheaper it is for your CFO, and those savings can be passed directly to the stockholders. Taken to its logical conclusion, given equal experience, equal qualifications, and identical answers during the interview, it's going to be the younger/skinnier/male candidate who gets the job. Age/Gender Discrimination will morph into Health Discrimination.

Discuss below. Are my fears irrational? Is your organization re-working existing teams to meet a growing list of reporting needs that must be available in prod yesterday?

Jacob Lewis v Epic Systems Corporation: Appellate Court Decision

This just in:
Lewis, J v. Epic Systems Corporation, 7th Circuit Decision

 Epic's no-collective-arbitration agreement is illegal.

Epic Systems, a health care software company, required certain groups of employees to agree to bring any wage-and-hour claims against the company only through individual arbitration. The agreement did not permit collective arbitration or collective action in any other forum. We conclude that this agreement violates the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA), 29 U.S.C. §§ 151, et seq., and is also un-enforceable under the Federal Arbitration Act (FAA), 9 U.S.C. §§ 1, et seq. We therefore affirm the district court’s denial of Epic’s motion to compel arbitration. (emphasis mine)

What this means: Epic cannot stop its employees from availing themselves of the protections afforded by the National Labor Relations Act, including but (I assume) not limited to:

Section 7 of the NLRA provides that “[e]mployees shall have the right to self-organization, to form, join, or assist labor organizations, to bargain collectively through representatives of their own choosing, and to engage in other concerted activ-ities for the purpose of collective bargaining or other mutual aid or protection.”

Congratulations to Mr Lewis and his expert legal team.

Interview-ish article with Judy Faulkner

Courtesy of Healthcare IT News: Epic CEO Judy Faulkner talks EHR Interoperability, Need for a National Patient ID, Physician Productivity

The comment "Unique patient ID has to happen" intrigued me, because that's patently untrue.


Consider:

• We already have a national ID: Social Security Number. However, that doesn't account for recent immigrants or tourists. 
• It's possible that every single person living on planet Earth may visit the United States at some point and while visiting may need health care. 
• You'd need to be able to account for >7,000,000,000 people (and counting). 
• Tourists may visit the USA multiple times and years apart, and they can't be expected to remember an MRN.
• A national ID does no good if the potential exists for one patient to have multiple IDs. Within a single hospital, Patient Merge gets used all the time. If you've ever had to deal with Patient Merge AND Care Everywhere, then you know the problems that arise when a hospital can't match the person to the chart. Multiply that by the entire nation. Or the entire planet. 
• Biometrics are unique and they can't be forgotten because they don't have to be remembered in the first place. 
• A national (international?) database of biometric information with bi-directional interfaces to every hospital system will need to be created and maintained.
• Remember Obamacare?

That seems a good place to stop. Discuss. 

EHRs Suck

And I think this video summarizes why quite nicely. The youtube comments (surprisingly) are intelligent and worth a cursory glance.

The video promotes #letdoctorsbedoctors, which in turn promotes athenahealth. I glanced at the athenahealth* website, and their demo looks an awful lot like Epic with a sleeker UI. I'm not exactly sure what they're offering, unless it's an "out of the box" version of Epic. Every feature in the demo is available in Epic, but in Epic it requires tons of analysis, build, debugging, and rebuilding.

Given the similarity to Epic, I'm curious to see how many of athenahealth's employees used to work in a certain cow pasture in Verona.

EHRs do suck. And with all of the MU regulations, EHRs are never going to get better. The government requires reportable data, and that requires data entry. Unless "exam room stenographer" becomes a new job title, doctors are the only ones able to enter all the data that the government wants. The other option is for the government to get out of the way (aka "deregulation") and let doctors be doctors.

*I'm assuming that the lower case and lack of spacing is part of their trademark. Unless you're e.e. cummings, you should use proper punctuation and capitalization.

Lawsuit follow-up: Epic's Arbitration Agreement Unenforceable

The Technical Writer class action lawsuit appears to be underway. According to Hawks Quindel (co-council with Habush Habush & Rottier), Epic attempted to have the case dismissed, citing their arbitration agreement. The judge called baloney on arbitration, citing labor union laws. Epic's writers will get their day in court.

This is a solid victory for IT employees, and obvious sign that IT workers need to unionize.

Update 11/3/15

A reader graciously submitted the full text of the arbitration agreement, which was too large to publish in the comment fields:


"If Epic is forced to operate in a more public manner, they might have to start treating their employees and their customers with a little more trust and respect."

Yes, exactly.  For starters, in April Epic filed a copy of its pre-dispute employment arbitration "agreement" with the Federal court in the J. Lewis v. Epic technical-writers lawsuit.  That is, for the first time as a result of this filing, to my knowledge, the full text of the agreement is in the public domain.  People should read it and see what rights of access to the courts Epic's employees have been told they must abandon in order to work at Epic.  I've copied (or tried to copy) the full agreement below for everyone's edification.

This agreement is truly egregious IMHO.  Judy Faulkner, who styles herself as promoting progressive political principles, ought to be embarrassed to shackle her employees with these limitations to the rights to remedies through the courts that Americans take for granted as a birthright.

For hypocrisy and corporate expediency, she should be expelled from the progressive, enlightened political circles in which she has traveled so effortlessly.

For instance, Faulkner can't possibly reconcile her action in imposing this agreement on the Epic labor force with Senator Tammy Baldwin's co-sponsorship of S. 1133 (see also H.R 2087) the Arbitration Fairness Act of 2015 (https://www.congress.gov/bill/114th-congress/senate-bill/1133/text ).  This bill would make pre-dispute forced employment arbitration agreements illegal.  Senator Baldwin presumably agrees with her bill's finding that "A series of decisions by the Supreme Court of the United States have interpreted the [Federal Arbitration] Act so that it now extends to consumer disputes and employment disputes, contrary to the intent of Congress."  It is these misinterpretations that permit Faulkner to force her employees to "agree" to forced arbitration as a condition of employment.

Here is the agreement -- I hope its details are widely discussed throughout Epic and the broader Madison community:

MUTUAL ARBITRATION AGREEMENT REGARDING WAGES AND HOURS

April 2, 2014

Agreement to Arbitrate. Epic Systems Corporation ("Epic") and I agree to use binding arbitration, instead of going to court, for any "covered claims" that arise or have arisen between me and Epic, its related and affiliated companies, and/or any current or former employee of Epic or a related or affiliated company. I understand that if I continue to work at Epic, I will be deemed to have accepted this Agreement.

"Covered claims" are any statutory or common law legal claims, asserted or unasserted, alleging the underpayment or overpayment of wages, expenses, loans, reimbursements, bonuses, commissions, advances, or any element of compensation, based on claims of eligibility for overtime, on-the-clock, off¬the-clock or other uncompensated hours worked claims, timing or amount of pay at separation, improper deductions of pay or paid-time-off, fee disputes, travel time claims, meal or rest period claims, overpayment claims, claims of failure to reimburse or repay loans or advances, claims over improper or inaccurate pay statements, or any other claimed violation of wage-and-hour practices or procedures under local, state or federal statutory or common law.

I understand and agree that arbitration is the only litigation forum for resolving covered claims, and that both Epic and I are waiving the right to a trial before a judge or jury in federal or state court in favor of arbitration.

The Arbitrator shall have the authority to award the same damages and other relief that would have been available in court pursuant to applicable law. The arbitrator shall follow the rules of law of the state which is the employee's principal place of work, any applicable Federal law, and the rules as stated in this Agreement. The arbitrator shall have the authority to grant any remedy or relief that the arbitrator deems just and equitable and which is authorized by and consistent with applicable law, including applicable statutory or other limitations on damages.

Waiver of Class and Collective Claims. I also agree that covered claims will be arbitrated only on an individual basis, and that both Epic and I waive the right to participate in or receive money or any other relief from any class, collective, or representative proceeding. No party may bring a claim on behalf of other individuals, and any arbitrator hearing my claim may not: (i) combine more than one individual's claim or claims into a single case; (ii) participate in or facilitate notification of others of potential claims; or (iii) arbitrate any form of a class, collective, or representative proceeding.

At Will Employment Unchanged by this Agreement. Nothing in this agreement changes or in any manner modifies my relationship with Epic of employment-at-will.

Claims not Covered by this Agreement. Covered claims under this agreement do not include claims alleging discrimination, harassment, or retaliation. Also excluded from this agreement are any claims that cannot be required to be arbitrated as a matter of law. I also understand that I am not barred from filing a claim or charge with a governmental administrative agency, such as the National Labor Relations Board or Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, or from filing a workers' compensation or unemployment compensation claim with respect to covered claims, though I am giving up the opportunity to recover monetary amounts from any such governmental agency related claim (e.g., NLRB or EEOC) and would instead be able to pursue a claim for monetary amounts through arbitration. I also understand that if a third party seeks to have Epic garnish my wages, I may be subject to third-party garnishment proceedings in court, even though such a dispute concerns my wages.

Right to Representation. Both Epic and I shall have the right to be represented by an attorney in arbitration. Neither side is entitled to its attorneys' fees except as provided for by applicable law.

How to File for Arbitration. To file a demand for arbitration:

1.            The party desiring to pursue a legal dispute must prepare a written demand setting forth the claim(s). Epic will pay its own filing fees. If I initiate the arbitration, I will pay the lesser of the American Arbitration Association's then-current filing fee (as of this date, $200), or the then-current filing fee applicable in state court.

2.            The employment dispute resolution rules of the American Arbitration Association ("AAA") effective at the time of my filing will apply. The current version of the rules can be found on pages 15-31 here: https://www.adr.org/aaa/ShowProperty?nodeld=/UCM/ADRSTG_004362&revision=latestreleased. These rules are modified by the terms of this Agreement, including the following:

     a.       Epic will pay the arbitrator's fees and the arbitration filing and administrative fees, less my initial payment for the applicable filing fee;

     b.       Epic and I will each have the opportunity to "rank" our preference for the appointed arbitrator from a list of nine proposed arbitrators and the AAA will then appoint the arbitrator;

     c.        The arbitrator shall have the authority to issue an award or partial award without conducting a hearing on the grounds that there is no claim on which relief can be granted or that there is no genuine issue of material fact to resolve at a hearing, consistent with Rules 12 and 56 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure ("FRCP");

     d.       Each party shall be entitled to only one interrogatory limited to the identification of potential witnesses, in a form consistent with Rule 33 of the FRCP;

     e.       Each party shall be entitled to only 25 requests for production of documents, in a form consistent with Rule 34 of the FRCP;

     f.        Each party shall be entitled a maximum of two (2) eight-hour days of depositions of witnesses in a form consistent with Rule 30 of the FRCP;

     g.       The arbitrator shall decide all disputes related to discovery and to the agreed limits on discovery and may allow additional discovery upon a showing of substantial need by either party or upon a showing of an inability to pursue or defend certain claims without such additional discovery;

     h.       The arbitrator must issue a decision in writing, setting forth in summary form the reasons for the arbitrator's determination and the legal basis therefor; and

     i.       The arbitrator's authority shall be limited to deciding the case submitted by the parties to the arbitration. Therefore, no decision by any arbitrator shall serve as precedent in other arbitrations except in a dispute between the same parties, in which case it could be used to preclude the same claim from being re-arbitrated.

Settlement. I may settle any dispute with the company at any time without involvement of the arbitrator.

Modifications and Amendments. I understand and agree that Epic may change or terminate this agreement after giving me 90 days written or electronic notice. Any change or termination will not apply to a pending claim.

Savings Clause & Conformity Clause. If any provision of this agreement is determined to be unenforceable or in conflict with a mandatory provision of applicable law, it shall be construed to incorporate any mandatory provision, and/or the unenforceable or conflicting provision shall be automatically severed and the remainder of the agreement shall not be affected. Provided, however, that if the Waiver of Class and Collective Claims is found to be unenforceable, then any claim brought on a class, collective, or representative action basis must be filed in a court of competent jurisdiction, and such court shall be the exclusive forum for such claims.

Controlling Law. I agree that this agreement is made pursuant to and shall be governed under the Federal Arbitration Act.

Interesting Article

Is Overwork Killing You, Harvard Business Review

You should read it.