Federal Judge Allows Morgantown Firefighters’ Overtime Case to Proceed

A federal court judge has refused to toss out a lawsuit brought by nearly 60 current and former Morgantown, West Virginia, firefighters challenging the city’s method of calculating overtime pay. The firefighters filed the lawsuit in the summer of 2024, alleging that the city improperly calculates their firefighters’ regular rate of pay.

The proper calculation of an employee’s regular rate is critical since all federally required overtime must be compensated at rate not less than time and one-half of the employee’s “regular rate.” When an employer fails to include all renumeration in an employee’s regular rate, that results in the employee being shorted on overtime pay. According to Morgantown firefighters, each firefighter is losing out on “thousands of dollars” per year due to the city’s non-FLSA compliant calculations.

This decision paves the way for further discovery and a potential trial as the case progresses through the courts. Here is more on the firefighters’ initial complaint from Curt Varone’s Fire Law Blog. In addition, a copy of the court’s most recent order is also posted below.