An Ohio county health system can avoid a nursing assistant's claim that it failed to pay semimonthly wages on time, but she can continue pursuing her claims that the company illegally rounded down workers' time, a federal judge ruled.

U.S. District Judge Bridget Meehan Brennan on Monday granted MetroHealth System's bid to dismiss Jennifer Bowman's suit only as to her claim under Ohio law accusing her employer of failing to pay semimonthly wages, saying the claim is barred because there is a dispute over how much in wages she would be owed.

However, Bowman sufficiently supported her other wage claims under the Fair Labor Standards Act and Ohio law, Judge Brennan said, denying the company's bid to toss the whole suit.

Bowman sued in February, claiming that MetroHealth rounds workers' time in a manner that allows it to pay them less.

MetroHealth argued in April that the whole complaint was rootless and should be dismissed.

But Judge Brennan sided with MetroHealth's argument only that Bowman's claim for untimely wages should be tossed, agreeing that a section of the Ohio Prompt Pay Act precludes such claims when there is a contest or dispute over how much an employer owes.

Judge Brennan disagreed with the other arguments MetroHealth made in its attempt to end the suit.

In particular, the judge disagreed with its argument that Bowman failed to show what compensable work she actually performed and limited herself to claiming that she performed "principal activities" once she clocked in, for which she said she was not paid.

MetroHealth pointed to the Sixth Circuit's 2022 decision in Marsha Forrester v. American Security & Protection et al. , where the panel ruled that workers need to allege specific facts to support their FLSA claims alleging unpaid wages for work performed before and after their shifts.

Judge Brennan, however, said Bowman's case is different from Forrester because "she is not seeking compensation for 'off-the-clock' work activities performed prior to or after her shift, but instead, compensation for time spent after she clocked in which was illegally rounded to her detriment."

"Critically, she does not allege MetroHealth required her to come to work early to perform preshift activities, nor does she allege MetroHealth required her to stay after her shift for postshift activities," Judge Brennan added.

Judge Brennan also said that Bowman made a plausible claim that MetroHealth's timekeeping policy flouts the FLSA.

Because Bowman's FLSA claim survives, her claim under the Ohio Minimum Fair Wage Standards Act, which the court analyzes under the same standards as the federal statute, will continue only as an opt-in claim, Judge Brennan said.

The parties had already agreed to dismiss the claim only as to the class allegation, but MetroHealth sought to ax the remainder, according to Monday's opinion.

Judge Brennan also said Bowman supported her claims that MetroHealth violated the FLSA willfully and that it has been unjustly enriched by using its rounding policy.

Representatives of the parties did not immediately respond to requests for comment Tuesday.

Bowman is represented by Joseph F. Scott, Ryan A. Winters and Kevin M. McDermott II of Scott & Winters Law Firm LLC and Seth R. Lesser and Christopher M. Timmel of Klafter Lesser LLP.

MetroHealth System is represented by John Gerak, Monica Levine Lacks and Samuel H. Ottinger of Ogletree Deakins Nash Smoak & Stewart PC.

The case is Bowman v. MetroHealth System, case number 1:25-cv-00256, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio.