The City of Tipton, Indiana, its mayor and fire chief are facing an FLSA lawsuit filed by a veteran city firefighter. The suit, filed by twenty (plus) year department veteran Chad Frazier, follows a recent Department of Labor (DOL) Wage and Hour Investigation which ultimately found fifteen city firefighters were shorted almost $100,000 in overtime wages. In the suit, Frazier ...
Read More »Tag Archives: back wages
Judge Finds Lack of Established Work Period Results in Loss of §207(k) Exemption for One OH Fire Department
How important is establishing a qualifying work period for §207(k) firefighters? Officials from the Village of Highland Hills, a small suburb outside of Cleveland, found out this past week. In a succinct easy to read six-page opinion, U.S. District Court Judge James S. Gwin, found that the village had not established a work period and was therefore unable to claim ...
Read More »Firefighter/Medics Assigned to EMS Companies and the FLSA’s 207(k) Exemption
In this Vlog, Curt Varone and I discuss a recent federal court decision that invalidated one Texas fire departments use of the FLSA’s §207(k) partial overtime exemption for firefighter/medics assigned to EMS companies. Here is more on this important ruling. Ruling in FF/Medics’ FLSA Overtime Lawsuit Stresses Importance of FD Policies and Procedures
Read More »MI City Ordered by DOL to Pay More Than $50K in Unpaid OT and Penalties to Four Police and Fire Department Employees
The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) has ordered the City of Highland Park, Michigan to pay four current city employees $49,181 in back wages and another $1,368 in penalties following an investigation into the city’s pay policies. The investigation found violations in the way the city counted hours worked for certain city employees. Specifically, four city employees that work as ...
Read More »Judge Sides with WV Firefighters In First Round of Holiday Pay Dispute; Extent of Damages and Fate of Retaliation Claims Remain
A Berkeley County West Virginia Circuit Court judge issued a summary judgement ruling in favor of approximately three dozen current and former Martinsburg, West Virginia firefighters following a 2018 lawsuit over holiday pay. A summary judgement ruling is a judicial decision based on undisputed facts without the need for a full-blown trial. Here, Judge Laura Faircloth found the city liable ...
Read More »DOL Orders Michigan Township to Pay Almost $55K in Back Wages to Police & Firefighters
The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) has announced that the Charter Township of Van Buren, Michigan has paid $54,945 in back wages to forty-eight current and former township employees, including police officers and firefighters. The announcement was made following an investigation by the DOL’s Wage and Hour Division, the arm of the DOL tasked with enforcing the FLSA, following a ...
Read More »Georgia County Reaches Settlement with Battalion Chiefs Following FLSA Suit
The Newton County Fire Department has reached a settlement with three battalion chiefs (BCs) following a 2019 lawsuit over FLSA overtime. The three BCs filed the suit in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia in November 2019. The three alleged the county improperly reclassified BCs from overtime eligible first responders to overtime exempt employees in July 2018. ...
Read More »$2.95 Million Overtime Settlement for Kentucky Flight Medics, Nurses, & Pilots
Last week a federal judge approved an almost $3 million settlement between Air Evac EMS, Inc., a global company that operates more than 140 air ambulance helicopters in 15 states across the country, and over 400 current and former flight nurses, medics, and pilots. The settlement follows a 2018 lawsuit containing allegations of unpaid overtime. Jason Peck, a former flight ...
Read More »Settlement Reached Between City of Charleston, WV and Firefighters Over Holiday Pay Miscalculation
The City of Charleston, West Virginia has reached a $1.7 million settlement with more than 160 current and former firefighters over the way the city pays them for holidays. This settlement follows claims made by firefighters last year that the city’s holiday pay plan violated West Virginia law. This settlement is unique in two ways: First, the Charleston firefighter’s claims ...
Read More »EMTs Awarded $14.4 Million In Back Pay and Damages Following FLSA Verdict Against FDNY
The City of New York has been ordered to pay a total of 2,519 current and former FDNY EMTs, medics, and Fire Safety Inspectors (EMTs) $14,477,026 in back pay and liquidated damages after being found liable of violating the FLSA. On October 24, 2019 a jury unanimously found the city failed to pay EMTs for time spent working before and ...
Read More »