Milford CT Settles FLSA Regular Rate Lawsuit with Firefighters for $400k

The City of Milford, Connecticut has settled a lawsuit filed by a group of eighty-eight current and former firefighters for a total of $400,000. The settlement includes $100,000 to pay the firefighters’ attorneys and the remaining $300,000 divided among the plaintiff firefighters to cover back wages and damages. The firefighters alleged in a 2023 federal lawsuit that city failed to include numerous wage augments in their regular rate of pay in violation of the FLSA. The firefighters’’ complaint listed longevity pay, certification pay, education incentive pay, and holiday pay as improperly excluded from their regular rate of pay.

The FLSA requires virtually all the money a non-exempt employee receives from his or her employer included in that employee’s regular rate of pay. The FLSA also requires FLSA overtime be paid at a rate not less than time and one-half of the employee’s regular rate. When an employer fails to include wage augments [like those listed above] in an employee’s regular rate, that employee’s overtime rate will be less than what is required by the FLSA. Here are some of the highlights from the settlement:

• Counsel for the Parties have reduced the terms of the settlement in principle to writing (the “Settlement Agreement”). Ex. 1. Under the Settlement Agreement, the Defendant will pay a total of $400,000.00 (“Settlement Amount”) to resolve the Plaintiffs’ FLSA claims.
• Specifically, this amount reflects each individual Plaintiff’s decision to allocate 25% of their Settlement Amount (a total of $100,000.00) to satisfy their Contingency Fee Agreement with Plaintiffs’ Counsel and to receive 75% of the Settlement Amount as backpay (“Backpay Amount”) (a total of $300,000) as a regular payroll check.
• The Parties agreed that Plaintiffs and Plaintiffs’ counsel would determine the method used to calculate Plaintiffs’ damages.
• The Parties further agreed that Plaintiffs and Plaintiffs’ counsel were solely responsible for determining the amount of attorneys’ fees/contingency fees applicable to the Settlement Agreement.
• The Plaintiffs have each agreed to pay Plaintiffs’ counsel a 25% contingency fee in exchange for representation in this matter.

The city and the union that represents the firefighters have entered into a new labor agreement that requires longevity, education incentive, certification, and holiday pay included in the firefighters’ regular rate moving forward.

Here is a copy of the settlement motion.