Louisville Battalion Chiefs File FLSA Lawsuit For Unpaid OT

A group of Louisville Fire Department Battalion Chiefs has filed a lawsuit in federal court alleging that the Louisville/Jefferson County Metro Government has been denying them legally required overtime pay for years. The suit, filed on October 29, 2025, includes 21 current and former Battalion Chiefs who claim the city misclassified them as overtime-exempt employees, despite the nature of their job duties and the way they are paid. 

According to the complaint, the Battalion Chiefs — who work 24-hour shifts on a 24/48 schedule averaging 56 hours per week — perform frontline fire suppression and emergency response duties, much like the rank-and-file firefighters that they supervise. Despite this, they claim the city fails to pay them any overtime in violation of the FLSA. According to the complaint, the Battalion Chiefs receive straight time pay for all additional hours worked. Quoting from the complaint:

• Defendant has misclassified LFD Battalion Chiefs as exempt from the overtime provisions of the FLSA under 29 C.F.R. 541.3 by claiming their primary job duty is management. Defendant’s misclassification of LFD Battalion Chiefs as exempt managerial employees, however, conflicts with Defendant’s actual pay practices and with LFD Battalion Chiefs’ role in the LFD.
• Defendant has misclassified LFD Battalion Chiefs as exempt from the overtime provisions of the FLSA despite paying them as hourly employees.
• Plaintiffs work under a biweekly pay period.
• Unlike salaried exempt employees who receive the same base pay amount each pay period as remuneration for all work performed, LFD Battalion Chiefs receive fluctuating base pay amounts tied to the number of regularly scheduled hours they work in a pay period.
• Moreover, LFD Battalion Chief pay fluctuates due to discrete events such as daylight-saving time.
• Plaintiffs, as LFD Battalion Chiefs, maintain a working pattern with fluctuating scheduled hours throughout pay periods. While LFD Battalion Chiefs work an average of 56 hours per week, the actual number of hours worked per their biweekly period varies because Plaintiffs work 24 hours on duty followed by 48 hours off duty.
• Specifically, Plaintiffs are regularly scheduled for a 120-hour pay period, followed by another 120-hour pay period, and then a 96-hour pay period.
• This pattern then repeats. Plaintiffs thus do not receive a predetermined, salaried amount each pay period regardless of hours worked. Instead, Plaintiffs receive a paycheck equal to their hourly rate times the number of hours worked—either 120 or 96.
• LFD Battalion Chiefs have little to no independent authority within the LFD to make managerial decisions, which would exempt them from the overtime provisions of the FLSA. For instance, during the Claims Period, LFD Battalion Chiefs:
  • have never had the authority to hire a new LFD employee;
  • have never controlled the curriculum of training LFD employees receive;
  • have never determined the rates of pay for any LFD employees;
  • have never dictated the working hours of LFD employees;
  • have never had the authority to promote an LFD employee;
  • have never had the authority to discipline an LFD employee formally;
  • have never had the authority to fire an LFD employee;
  • have never had the authority to plan or control the budget; and
  • have never had the authority to determine how the LFD would comply with federal, state, and local laws.
• As a result of Defendant’s misclassification of LFD Battalion Chiefs, Defendant has failed to pay Plaintiffs for all hours worked in excess of the maximum hours provided in 29 U.S.C. § 207.

The Battalion Chiefs are seeking back overtime wages, liquidated damages, and attorneys’ fees and costs.

Here is more information on Battalion Chiefs and FLSA overtime eligibility, along with a copy of the Louisville complaint.

Battalion Chiefs, Executive Exemption, and Overtime