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WellNow Urgent Care Wage and Hour Settlement

Settlement Amount
$1.64M
Claim Deadline
November 25, 2026
Total Fund
$1,640,000
File on the official site → searswellnowsettlement.com

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The WellNow Urgent Care Wage and Hour Settlement resolves Sears et al. v. WellNow Urgent Care, P.C., Case No. 1:23-cv-03544 in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, over allegations that WellNow shaved hourly patient-care workers' pay through automatic meal-period deductions, an automatic time-rounding policy, and by leaving certain bonuses out of the regular rate used to calculate overtime. WellNow denies all of it and admits no wrongdoing. Four things decide whether this page is worth your time. First, and this is the whole ballgame: WellNow's own list controls who is in. Paragraph 27 of the Settlement Agreement says the list WellNow provided “shall control and supersede any other list,” and that a person not on that list is not a class member and gets nothing. Simpluris mailed the Notice Packets on September 23, 2026. If one did not reach you, call Simpluris at (866) 610-9076 before filing anything — there is no way to add yourself. Second, the class is narrower than “WellNow employee.” It covers non-exempt hourly staff with direct patient care duties — LPNs, x-ray techs, clinic shift leads, medical assistants — at corporate-owned WellNow locations in New York, Illinois and Pennsylvania only. And the four state classes have four different start dates: New York reaches back to 2017 and the Illinois meal-break/rounding class to 2016, but the Illinois minimum-wage class and the Pennsylvania class only reach back to June 8, 2023. Third, $1.64 million is a ceiling, not a spend. This is a claims-made settlement with full reversion: the Notice says money not claimed goes back to WellNow, not to the workers who did file, and so does any check left uncashed for 150 days. Attorneys' fees of up to 35% of the gross fund (up to $574,000) plus costs, $15,000 in service payments and Simpluris's fees come out first, and half of what you are paid is taxed as W-2 wages. Fourth, there is no online claim form. The signed paper Claim Form must be postmarked or received by November 25, 2026 — the same date that governs opting out, objecting and disputing your pay-period count. The one group that does nothing is the roughly 2,681 opt-in plaintiffs who joined the FLSA collective in 2025; they are paid from payroll records automatically. Final approval is set for December 16, 2026 before Judge John F. Kness.

Do I Qualify?

You may be eligible if:

Nothing needs to be attached to the Claim Form — but that is not the same as an open settlement. The gate here is not paperwork, it is WellNow's list. What the Claim Form actually asks for. Your name, any other name you used while working at WellNow, the last four digits of your Social Security number, home address, telephone number, email address, and a signature and date. That is the entire form. It carries no notice ID or PIN field, and no pay stubs, timesheets, schedules or receipts are required or requested. The real qualifier is being on WellNow's class list. Paragraph 27 of the Settlement Agreement says the list WellNow provided to Class Counsel controls and supersedes any other list, and that someone not on it is not a class member and will not be allocated any payment. The Notice opens by telling you that receiving it is what makes you a class member. Simpluris mailed the packets on September 23, 2026 using WellNow's records, after running the addresses through the USPS National Change of Address database, and also emailed a link to anyone WellNow had an email address for. If you believe you qualify and nothing arrived, contact Simpluris at (866) 610-9076 — there is no self-enrollment route on the website. The one place documents do matter. If the pay-period count printed on your notice looks wrong, you may dispute it by mail to Simpluris with an explanation and supporting documentation such as pay stubs, postmarked by November 25, 2026. WellNow's records are presumed accurate, the administrator resolves the dispute, and its decision is final. A dispute is not a substitute for a Claim Form — if you are not an opt-in plaintiff you must still return one by the same date. The signature is a real legal act. Signing declares under penalty of perjury under Illinois law that you received the Notice and are a member of the Settlement Class, consents to join the case as a party plaintiff under 29 U.S.C. § 216(b), releases your FLSA and New York, Illinois and Pennsylvania wage claims, and submits you to the personal jurisdiction of the Northern District of Illinois to enforce that release. And doing nothing is not neutral. A state-law class member who neither files nor excludes themselves receives no payment but still releases the state wage claims covered by the settlement. Only the FLSA claims survive.

File your claim through the official settlement website at searswellnowsettlement.com before November 25, 2026.

File on the official site → searswellnowsettlement.com

Opens the court-appointed administrator's site in a new tab.

What Happened?

Stacey Sears sued WellNow Urgent Care, P.C. on June 6, 2023 in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, later joined by Joel Aguilera and Amber Smith as named plaintiffs. The complaint alleges WellNow violated the federal Fair Labor Standards Act and the wage laws of Illinois, New York and Pennsylvania through automatic meal-period deductions, an automatic time-rounding policy, and by omitting certain bonus payments from the regular rate used to calculate overtime pay.

In July 2024 the court conditionally certified a nationwide FLSA collective of patient-care employees who received a meal-period deduction or were subject to time rounding since June 6, 2020. About 7,200 hourly employees were notified in February 2025 and roughly 2,681 opted in. That is the group now called the opt-in plaintiffs, and they are paid without filing anything.

The parties mediated in July 2025 and reached an agreement in principle on March 19, 2026. The Class and Collective Action Settlement Agreement was filed with the court on July 28, 2026 as ECF No. 212-1, and the federal docket shows the court ruled on the motion three business days later, on August 3, 2026. Neither the Notice nor the settlement website publishes the Preliminary Approval Date as a calendar date, even though all four state class periods end on it.

The claim window is short by design. Paragraph 22 sets the Claim Deadline at 63 days after the Notice Packet mailing date. Simpluris mailed on September 23, 2026, which puts the deadline at November 25, 2026 — the same date for claims, exclusions, objections and pay-period disputes alike.

WellNow denies all of the claims and any liability or wrongdoing. The Settlement Agreement is expressly not an admission that its pay practices violated any law, class certification is for settlement purposes only, and WellNow reserves the right to contest certification if the settlement falls through.

Simpluris, Inc. is the court-appointed Claims Administrator, reachable at info@SearsWellNowSettlement.com or (866) 610-9076. Class Counsel are Josephson Dunlap LLP, Werman Salas P.C. and Anderson Alexander PLLC; WellNow is represented by Duane Morris LLP. Judge John F. Kness will hold the Final Approval Hearing on December 16, 2026 at 1:30 p.m. in Courtroom 2125 of the Dirksen Courthouse in Chicago. The hearing may be postponed without further notice and class members do not need to attend.

Two provisions could still unwind this. Under Paragraph 129, if timely exclusion requests exceed 10 percent of class members, WellNow may unilaterally terminate the settlement within 35 days after the Claim Deadline. And if the court declines to enter final approval for any reason, the entire settlement account goes back to WellNow, less administration costs already spent. No final approval has been granted and no payment date has been announced.

How to File Your Claim

  1. CHECK THAT YOU GOT A NOTICE PACKET. Simpluris mailed the Notice of Class Action Settlement with the Claim Form attached on September 23, 2026, to the address in WellNow's records, and emailed a link to anyone WellNow had an address for. Your packet carries your own pay-period count and your own estimated dollar amount. If you moved and nothing arrived, contact Simpluris at info@SearsWellNowSettlement.com or (866) 610-9076 before you do anything else
  2. ALREADY AN OPT-IN PLAINTIFF? DO NOT FILE. The roughly 2,681 workers who joined the FLSA collective after the February 2025 notice are paid from WellNow's payroll records automatically, without a Claim Form, unless they exclude themselves
  3. EVERYONE ELSE MUST RETURN THE CLAIM FORM. A state-law class member who does not return it gets nothing — and still releases their state wage claims. There is no online claim portal in this settlement. www.SearsWellNowSettlement.com posts the documents
  4. it does not accept claims
  5. FILL IN THE FORM. It asks for your name, any other name you used while working at WellNow, the last four digits of your Social Security number, home address, telephone number and email address. There is no notice ID or PIN field on the form, and no pay stubs, time records or receipts are attached
  6. SIGN AND DATE IT. Signing declares under penalty of perjury under Illinois law that you received the Notice and are a class member, consents to join the lawsuit as a party plaintiff under 29 U.S.C. § 216(b), and releases the FLSA and New York, Illinois and Pennsylvania wage claims pled in the case
  7. RETURN IT BY MAIL OR EMAIL so that it is postmarked or otherwise received no later than November 25, 2026. Use the enclosed postage-paid envelope, or mail to Sears et al. v. WellNow Urgent Care, P.C., c/o Simpluris, Inc., P.O. Box 26170, Santa Ana, CA 92799. The form may also be scanned and emailed to the administrator. The Notice does not specify a time of day
  8. PAY-PERIOD COUNT LOOKS WRONG? Dispute it by mail to Simpluris with an explanation and supporting documentation such as pay stubs, postmarked by November 25, 2026. This is the only place documents matter. WellNow's records are presumed accurate and the administrator's decision is final — and if you are not an opt-in plaintiff you must still return a timely Claim Form on top of the dispute
  9. ONE DATE COVERS EVERYTHING. November 25, 2026 is also the deadline to exclude yourself, to object, and to mail a notice of intent to appear at the hearing. The agreement allows 15 extra days only for someone the administrator determines never received the packet or could not file in time because of a change of address, military service, hospitalization or similar circumstances
  10. TO EXCLUDE YOURSELF, mail Simpluris a signed letter stating “I exclude myself from the WellNow Class Action settlement. I affirm that I was an employee of WellNow,” with your full name, address and telephone number. That is the only way to keep the right to sue WellNow yourself, and it means no payment. DO NOT SUBMIT BOTH A CLAIM FORM AND AN EXCLUSION REQUEST
  11. TO OBJECT, mail a letter containing the words “I object to the WellNow Class Action settlement” to the Clerk of Court, U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, 219 South Dearborn Street, Chicago, IL 60604, and mail copies to Class Counsel and to WellNow's counsel at Duane Morris LLP, postmarked by November 25, 2026. Someone who excludes themselves may not object
  12. DO NOT CALL THE COURT, WELLNOW OR WELLNOW'S LAWYERS. The Notice says so in capitals. Questions go to Simpluris at info@SearsWellNowSettlement.com or (866) 610-9076
  13. Visit the official claim form: https://www.searswellnowsettlement.com/

How Much Will I Actually Get?

ONE FORMULA, ONE PATH — BUT THE POINTS STACK. There is no either/or choice to make here, no documented-loss tier and no alternative flat payment. Every participant is paid the same way: a pro rata share of the Net Settlement Fund set by a points formula. What varies is how many points you draw, and for some people the points add together rather than replacing each other. THE POINTS. Under Paragraph 76 of the Settlement Agreement, opt-in plaintiffs are assigned TWO points for each pay period worked as an Hourly Employee at a WellNow Location, and members of the New York, IMWL, IWPCA and Pennsylvania classes are each assigned ONE point for each pay period worked in that state during that state's class period. The administrator totals everyone's points, divides the Net Settlement Fund by that total to get a value per point, and multiplies. TWO DOCUMENTS DO NOT READ THE SAME WAY ON STACKING, and we would rather flag it than smooth it over. Paragraph 76 of the Settlement Agreement attaches no condition to any of the state-class point awards, so on its face a person who is both an opt-in plaintiff and a state class member collects both the 2-point opt-in award and the 1-point state award for the same pay periods. The mailed Notice repeats the same list but inserts the words “who are not also Opt-in Plaintiffs” into the Illinois IMWL, Illinois IWPCA and Pennsylvania bullets — and NOT into the New York bullet. Read the Notice literally, a New York opt-in stacks and an Illinois or Pennsylvania opt-in does not. Read the Agreement literally, everyone stacks. Paragraph 76(f) separately states the formula was built so that there is no substantial overlap between the FLSA and state-law payments. If you are both an opt-in plaintiff and a state class member, your packet is supposed to explain both roles; ask Simpluris to confirm your point total rather than assuming. THE ESTIMATE ON YOUR NOTICE IS NOT A PROMISE. Each packet prints the pay-period count WellNow's records show and an estimated dollar figure. The Notice says in terms that the amount you actually receive may be higher or lower. AND THE CHECK IS SMALLER THAN THE ESTIMATE. Paragraph 80 splits every payment in half for tax purposes: 50 percent is treated as back wages, reported on a W-2 and subject to normal payroll withholding, and 50 percent is treated as liquidated damages and interest, reported on a Form 1099 as non-wage income. “UP TO $1,640,000” IS THE CEILING, NOT THE SPEND. Paragraph 40 calls the $1,640,000 Gross Settlement Fund “the maximum total amount that Defendant shall pay” — and this is a claims-made settlement with full reversion. The Notice states that amounts not claimed by class members, and not needed for fees and expenses, WILL BE RETURNED TO DEFENDANT. Paragraph 73 says any remaining or residual money in the settlement account after distribution remains WellNow's property. Money left on the table is NOT redistributed to the workers who did file. The same is true of any settlement check not cashed within 150 days of mailing. WellNow's real outlay will very likely land well below $1.64 million. WHAT COMES OUT BEFORE YOU ARE PAID. Class Counsel will ask the court for attorneys' fees of up to 35 percent OF THE GROSS FUND — measured against the full $1,640,000, not against what is left for workers — which is up to $574,000, plus out-of-pocket litigation costs. WellNow has said it will not oppose a request up to one-third plus costs. Add service payments of $5,000 to each of the three named plaintiffs ($15,000 total) and Simpluris's administration costs. All of it is subject to Judge Kness's approval on December 16, 2026, and if he awards less, the net fund and every individual payment go up. ONE COST FALLS OUTSIDE THE CAP. Paragraph 40 excepts Employer Payroll Taxes from the $1,640,000 ceiling, so WellNow's employer-side share of payroll taxes is paid on top of the fund rather than out of it. That is the one piece of this settlement the headline number does not have to cover. NOTHING IS PAID YET. Payment follows final approval on December 16, 2026 and the settlement's Effective Date, which arrives only after the time to appeal has run or any appeal is resolved. The Notice warns that can take more than a year. If the court approves and no appeal is filed, checks are mailed within 35 days after the Effective Date. WellNow also keeps a unilateral right under Paragraph 129 to walk away from the whole settlement if timely exclusion requests exceed 10 percent of class members.

Last reviewed: September 30, 2026 | Information verified from court records and official settlement documents.

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Frequently Asked Questions

I worked at WellNow but never got anything in the mail. Can I still file?
Not on your own initiative, and this is the single most important thing on this page. Paragraph 27 of the Settlement Agreement defines Class Members as the people identified in the list WellNow provided to Class Counsel, says that list “shall control and supersede any other list purporting to identify Class Members,” and states that an individual not on the list is not a class member and will not be allocated any payment unless the parties agree or the court orders otherwise. The mailed Notice says the same thing from the other direction: “If you are receiving this Notice, you are a Class Member.” Simpluris mailed the packets on September 23, 2026 to the addresses in WellNow's records, after running them through the USPS National Change of Address database, and emailed a link to anyone with an email address on file. There is no self-enrollment form on the settlement website and no way to add yourself. If you moved, changed your name, or believe WellNow's records are wrong, call Simpluris at (866) 610-9076 or write to info@SearsWellNowSettlement.com immediately — the agreement allows a 15-day extension only for someone the administrator determines never received the packet or could not file in time because of a change of address, military service, hospitalization or similar circumstances.
Every WellNow hourly employee is covered, right?
No, and the gap between the headline and the definition is wide. The Settlement Agreement defines an “Hourly Employee” as a WellNow employee with DIRECT PATIENT CARE DUTIES who was classified as non-exempt and paid hourly — it names licensed practical nurses, x-ray technicians, clinic shift leads, medical assistants and other patient care staff. On that wording, front-desk, billing, call-center and corporate roles are outside the class even if they were hourly and non-exempt. The Notice's cover line is looser — it says “employed as a nonexempt hourly employee, and/or have worked in another nonexempt position at a corporate-owned WellNow Urgent Care” — which reads broader than the definition the settlement actually operates on. The work also has to have been at a “WellNow Location,” defined as a site providing urgent medical care, telehealth and occupational medicine that is operated by WellNow Urgent Care, P.C.; the Notice calls those corporate-owned locations. And it has to have been in New York, Illinois or Pennsylvania. The nationwide FLSA collective that covered other states closed to new joiners in 2025.
I worked at WellNow in Illinois or Pennsylvania until 2022. Am I in?
Probably not, and the four class periods are not interchangeable. The Illinois Minimum Wage Law class runs only from June 8, 2023 through the Preliminary Approval Date. The Pennsylvania class runs only from June 8, 2023 as well, covering hourly employees who worked in, or were based out of, Pennsylvania. Both are short windows. The two long ones are elsewhere: the New York class reaches back to June 6, 2017, and the Illinois Wage Payment and Collection Act class reaches back to June 8, 2016 — but the IWPCA class adds a test the others do not have, covering only hourly Illinois employees who clocked out for a meal break and/or whose clock-in and clock-out times were automatically rounded. So an Illinois worker from 2022 might still be in through the IWPCA class if the meal-break or rounding practice applied to them, while a Pennsylvania worker from 2022 has no equivalent route. All four periods end on the Preliminary Approval Date, which neither the Notice nor the settlement website states as a calendar date; the federal docket shows the court ruled on the preliminary approval motion on August 3, 2026.
WellNow is paying $1.64 million. Does all of that reach the workers?
No, in two separate ways, and the second one is unusual enough to say plainly. First, the ordinary deductions: Class Counsel will ask the court for attorneys' fees of up to 35% of the GROSS fund — measured against the full $1,640,000 rather than against what is left over, which works out to as much as $574,000 — plus out-of-pocket litigation costs, service payments of $5,000 to each of the three named plaintiffs, and Simpluris's administration costs. All of it is subject to Judge Kness's approval on December 16, 2026, and if he awards less, every individual payment goes up. Second, and more importantly, this is a claims-made settlement with full reversion. The Notice states that amounts not claimed by class members and not needed for fees and expenses “will be returned to Defendant,” and Paragraph 73 provides that any remaining or residual money in the settlement account after distribution remains WellNow's property. Unclaimed money is NOT redistributed among the people who did file, and there is no cy pres recipient. Any check not cashed within 150 days goes back the same way. Because participation in claims-made wage settlements is rarely complete, WellNow's actual outlay will very likely be well below the $1,640,000 headline. There is one item the cap does not have to cover: Paragraph 40 excepts Employer Payroll Taxes from the $1,640,000 maximum, so WellNow pays its employer-side payroll taxes on top of the fund rather than out of it.
How is my payment calculated, and do the points add up if I am both an opt-in and a state class member?
The formula itself is simple: the administrator assigns points, totals everyone's points, divides the Net Settlement Fund by that total to get a value per point, and multiplies by your points. Opt-in plaintiffs get two points per pay period worked as an Hourly Employee at a WellNow Location; members of the New York, IMWL, IWPCA and Pennsylvania classes get one point per pay period worked in that state during that state's class period. The stacking question is where two official documents do not read alike, and we would rather flag it than paper over it. Paragraph 76 of the Settlement Agreement attaches no condition to any state-class point award, so on its face someone who is both an opt-in plaintiff and a state class member draws both awards. The mailed Notice lists the same five bullets but inserts “who are not also Opt-in Plaintiffs” into the Illinois IMWL, Illinois IWPCA and Pennsylvania bullets — and not into the New York bullet. Read the Notice literally, a New York opt-in stacks and an Illinois or Pennsylvania opt-in does not; read the Agreement literally, everyone stacks. Paragraph 76(f) separately says the formula was designed so there is no substantial overlap between the FLSA and state-law payments. Your notice is supposed to explain both roles if you hold both; if the math matters to you, ask Simpluris to confirm your point total in writing rather than assuming either reading.
Is the estimated amount printed on my notice what I will be paid?
No. The notice prints the number of pay periods WellNow's records show for you and an estimated dollar amount, and then says in terms that the figure is an estimate and that the amount you actually receive may be higher or lower because of numerous factors. Two things push it around. The value per point depends on how many people claim — but unlike most pro rata settlements, a low claim rate here does not enlarge anyone else's share, because unclaimed money reverts to WellNow instead of being redistributed. And the fee, cost and service awards are requests, not fixed amounts, so a smaller award from the court means a larger net fund. Separately, the check will be smaller than the gross figure: Paragraph 80 treats one half of each payment as back wages reported on a W-2 and subject to normal payroll withholding, and the other half as liquidated damages and interest reported on a Form 1099 as non-wage income. If your pay-period count looks wrong, you can dispute it by mail with supporting documentation postmarked by November 25, 2026, but WellNow's records are presumed accurate and the administrator's decision is final.
I already opted in to the WellNow lawsuit. Do I need to do anything?
No. The roughly 2,681 workers who joined the FLSA collective after notice went out to about 7,200 hourly employees in February 2025 are opt-in plaintiffs, and they do not submit a Claim Form. Their share is calculated from WellNow's payroll records at two points per pay period and paid after final approval unless they exclude themselves. One detail worth knowing if you are checking the math: the mailed Notice describes the opt-in point window as running from June 6, 2020 through the Preliminary Approval Date, while Paragraphs 32 and 76 of the Settlement Agreement describe it as running from three years prior to the date that individual opted in to the litigation through the Preliminary Approval Date. Since opt-in notice went out in February 2025, those two descriptions produce different windows for most people. It does not change what you have to do — nothing — but it is worth raising with Simpluris if your estimated amount looks off.
What happens if I ignore this?
It depends on who you are, and for state class members the answer is bad. If you are a state-law class member who is not an opt-in plaintiff and you neither return a Claim Form nor exclude yourself, you receive no payment and you STILL release the state wage claims covered by the settlement — the New York Labor Law, Illinois Minimum Wage Law, Illinois Wage Payment and Collection Act, Pennsylvania Minimum Wage Act and Pennsylvania Wage Payment and Collection Law claims pled in the case. Only your FLSA claims survive, because the FLSA release is triggered by signing the Claim Form. Your allocated share goes back to WellNow. Excluding yourself is the only way to keep the right to sue WellNow over these claims, and it means no payment; to do it you mail Simpluris a signed letter stating “I exclude myself from the WellNow Class Action settlement. I affirm that I was an employee of WellNow,” with your full name, address and telephone number, postmarked by November 25, 2026. The Notice warns against submitting both a Claim Form and an exclusion request. Objecting is different: an objector stays in the class, can still file a claim and can still be paid.
Can I file online, and what are all the deadlines?
There is no online claim portal in this settlement. www.SearsWellNowSettlement.com is a document and information site run by Simpluris — it posts the Claim Form, the class notice and the Settlement Agreement and lists contact options, but it does not accept claims. The signed Claim Form must be returned by mail in the enclosed postage-paid envelope, or to Sears et al. v. WellNow Urgent Care, P.C., c/o Simpluris, Inc., P.O. Box 26170, Santa Ana, CA 92799, or scanned and emailed to the administrator, so that it is postmarked or otherwise received no later than November 25, 2026. That one date governs everything: claims, exclusion requests, written objections, notices of intent to appear at the hearing, and disputes over your pay-period count. The Notice does not specify a time of day. The Final Approval Hearing is December 16, 2026 at 1:30 p.m. before Judge John F. Kness in Courtroom 2125 of the Dirksen Courthouse, 219 South Dearborn Street, Chicago, and it may be postponed without further notice.
When would money actually arrive?
No payment date has been announced and no money is available now. Payment waits on two events: final approval at the December 16, 2026 hearing, and the settlement's Effective Date, which under the agreement is the first business day after the time to appeal or move to alter the judgment expires, or after any appeal is fully resolved. If the court approves and no appeal is filed, the administrator mails checks within 35 days after the Effective Date. If an appeal is filed, the Notice cautions that resolving it can take more than a year. Two further contingencies sit on top. Under Paragraph 129, WellNow may unilaterally terminate the entire settlement within 35 days after the Claim Deadline if timely exclusion requests exceed 10% of class members. And if the court declines to enter final approval for any reason, the whole settlement account returns to WellNow less administration costs already spent. Once a check is issued you must deposit it within 150 days; after that the money goes back to WellNow. Keep Simpluris updated if you move.

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