Pennsylvania Firefighter Drops FLSA Suit Pending Settlement

A Lancaster, Pennsylvania, firefighter has dropped an FLSA regular rate lawsuit pending a potential settlement. Geoff Stone, the president of the Lancaster Professional Firefighters, IAFF Local 319 filed the lawsuit on behalf of himself and other firefighters in federal court in October, 2023. Chief among his allegations was that the city failed to include longevity pay in his [and other firefighters’] regular rate of pay.

The FLSA requires that all “remuneration” be included in an employee’s regular rate of pay. This includes non-discretionary bonuses like longevity pay. When an employer fails to include all “remuneration” in an employee’s regular rate that employee’s overtime rate is shorted. Click here for more on the story from Lancaster Online.

Coincidently, this isn’t the only headline concerning the Lancaster Firefighters union and city’s administration this week. The firefighter’s union and city officials are at odds publicly over a recent decision to reduce daily firefighter staffing from 13 to 11. City officials claim the reduction is necessary to reduce overtime costs. The union counters that this reduction will result in unsafe working conditions for firefighters and an increased danger for residents. Here is more on that story ABC 27.

Here is a copy of the complaint filed in 2023.