Tag Archives: fire marshal

Federal Judge Throws Out Suit Filed by WA State Fire Department Over FLSA Overtime for Battalion Chiefs and Fire Marshals

This past week a district court judge in Washington state dismissed a highly unusual FLSA lawsuit initiated by the Spokane Valley Fire Department (SVFD) back in the summer of 2017. Spokane Valley filed the suit against the union that represents its firefighters, IAFF Local 3701, in an effort to receive a judicial declaration that SVFD battalion chiefs and fire marshals ...

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LA County Fire Under Scrutiny Over Overtime Pay

The Los Angeles County Fire Department is facing scrutiny over departmental overtime and payroll costs. According to the Los Angeles Times (Times), overtime costs for the more than 4,800-member department has increased 36 percent in the past 5 years. The department spent over $200 million on overtime in 2017. In response to these increases, the county recently launched an internal ...

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Kansas Fire Investigators Reach Settlement with City Following FLSA Suit

The City of Wichita, Kansas, will pay six fire department arson investigators and their attorney almost $155,000 to settle unpaid overtime claims. The six investigators argued they should receive overtime similar to city police officers as opposed to firefighters. Here is more on those claims. Wichita Fire Investigators File FLSA Overtime Lawsuit The Settlement According to the Wichita Eagle, Wichita’s ...

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Update on IAFF – FLSA Lawsuit

This past July the Spokane Valley Fire Department (SVFD) filed an unusual lawsuit against the union that represents Spokane Valley firefighters (IAFF Local 3701). SVFD wanted the court to issue a “declaratory judgement” that SVFD battalion chiefs and fire marshals were exempt from receiving FLSA overtime. A declaratory judgement is when a court is asked to issue a formal opinion ...

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WA State Fire Department sues IAFF local over FLSA

The Spokane Valley Fire Department (SVFD) has filed a federal civil suit against the International Association of Firefighters (IAFF) Local 3701 in the Eastern District of Washington state.  SVFD is looking for the court to issue a “declaratory judgement” that battalion chiefs and fire marshals are exempt from FLSA overtime.  This is a highly unusual suit for several reasons, let’s ...

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