Tag Archives: §7(k)

The Rancho Santa Fe Fire Protection District has settled a lawsuit filed earlier this year by two former fire department battalion chiefs. The settlement, which was approved by U.S. District Court Judge, Janis L. Sammartino on January 9, 2023, requires the district to pay a total of $99,000 to settle the former battalion chiefs’ overtime lawsuit. The two battalion chiefs ...

The City of Selma, Alabama has reached an undisclosed “confidential” settlement with three fire department assistant fire marshals/fire investigators following their 2021 lawsuit for unpaid overtime, breach of contract, and FLSA retaliation. The plaintiffs’ complaint set forth three basic allegations. First, the plaintiffs claim the city misclassified them as overtime exempt employees in violation of the FLSA. Second, the city ...

Today’s FLSA Question: I am a full-time paid firefighter that works a 56-hour average workweek utilizing a 48/96 schedule. My department calculates my regular rate and overtime rate by taking my annual salary, including stipends and longevity, and dividing that by 2,912. According to human resources, that is the proper method since that is the number of hours that our ...

In the latest round of litigation involving West Virginia firefighters and their entitlement to holiday pay, the City of Parkersburg has been found in violation of West Virginia state law by failing to adequately compensate city firefighters for recognized holidays. The decision, which was issued by Wood Circuit Judge J.D. Beane on December 12, requires the city to start paying ...

A federal court in California has approved a global settlement of almost $150,000 to settle a lawsuit between Alameda County, California, and a former Emergency Medical Services Coordinator (EMS Coordinator). The settlement closely follows a 2021 lawsuit filed by Aram Bronston, an EMS Coordinator that was assigned as the county’s Regional Disaster Medical Health Specialist between November 2018 until his ...

Former Lumpkin County Fire Department Battalion Chief Sharon Booth has filed suit against her former employer alleging that the county misclassified her as an overtime exempt employee in violation of the FLSA. The lawsuit, which was filed on November 30, 2022, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia contains rather straightforward claims of unpaid overtime for ...

Humphreys County, Tennessee is the latest public employer to face an FLSA lawsuit filed by its employees. A group of six current and former workers from the county’s sheriff’s office filed the lawsuit on behalf of themselves and other similarly situated individuals in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee on October 31, 2022. The plaintiffs, four ...

Today’s FLSA Question: I am a firefighter in a small full-time unionized fire department. Our most recent three-year collective bargaining agreement provided us with “discretionary” lump-sum annual bonuses in lieu of traditional percentage-based wage increases. In the first year of the contract, we received a $2,000 lump sum payment. In the second and third year of the contract we will ...

Three “former” Battalion Chiefs from the Portage, Indiana Fire Department filed a lawsuit in federal court last week claiming the city of Portage failed to provide them overtime pay as required by both the FLSA and Indiana state law. Additionally, the chiefs’ complaint alleges that the city has unlawfully retaliated against them in violation of the FLSA. Specifically, the chiefs ...

In this VLOG, Curt Varone and I discuss two recent FLSA cases involving the FLSA, regular rate, and collective bargaining.