West Des Moines Fire Officers File Lawsuit for Unpaid Overtime

Fifteen current and former fire officers from the West Des Moines, Iowa Fire Department have filed a lawsuit against their employer, the City of Des Moines claiming the city failed to pay them as required by the FLSA. More specifically, the fifteen claim they were improperly classified as overtime exempt “white-collar” employees for many years in violation of the FLSA. Additionally, several of the officers also claim the city improperly reduced their hourly rate in March 2025, after the city unilaterally changed their FLSA status and reclassified them as hourly non-exempt employees. According to the officers’ complaint, this was also an FLSA violation.

Whether any fire officer can be classified as an overtime exempt “white-collar” employee depends on the specific facts involved. In recent years there has been a significant uptick in litigation involving application of the FLSA’s “white-collar” overtime exemptions to battalion chiefs and other higher ranking fire officers. Department of Labor (DOL) regulations prohibit “first responders” from being classified as “white-collar” overtime exempt employees. The distinction between an overtime eligible “first responder” and an overtime exempt executive employee is not always obvious. However, as a general rule company level officers [lieutenants and captains assigned to engine and truck companies] are considered “first responders” and thus entitled to FLSA overtime.

We will be keeping a close eye on this case as it develops. Here is more on the story from ABC 5.