Today’s FLSA Question: Can a fire department’s collective bargaining agreement limit the amount of FLSA compensatory time (comp time) a firefighter can accrue to only 240 hours? The current contract allows firefighters to accrue up to 480 hours of FLSA comp time. A new city administrator wants to negotiate with the firefighter’s union in an effort to lower the city’s ...
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Upstate NY City Settles FLSA Suit
The City of Gloversville, New York has agreed to settle a lawsuit filed by three retired firefighters over alleged violations of the FLSA. According to The Leader-Herald, the settlement provides a total of $110,000 paid to the three retirees and their attorney(s). The crux of the retired firefighters’ claims revolved around the FLSA’s compensatory time (comp time) requirements. In particular, ...
Read More »Fire Department Administrative Assistant, Comp Time, and the FLSA
Today’s FLSA Question: I work as an administrative assistant for a small municipal fire department. City hall issued a memo last month eliminating non-essential overtime across all city departments. Our fire chief requested an exception from this prohibition for me, since our office is already shorthanded. City hall responded that as an administrative employee, I could agree to accept comp ...
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 »Three Recently Retired NY Firefighters File FLSA Suit
Three recently retired Gloversville, New York firefighters have filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of New York claiming the City of Gloversville violated the FLSA. Recent Gloversville Fire Department retirees, James Anderson, Robert Davis, and David Rackmyre allege the city failed to properly administer its FLSA compensatory (comp) time program which resulted in the ...
Read More »Cleveland Ohio Facing FLSA Suit Over Comp Time
A veteran Cleveland police officer has filed suit against the city alleging its compensatory time (comp time) policies violate the FLSA. Officer Jeffrey Kozma filed the suit, on behalf of himself and similarly situated individuals, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio on August 15, 2019. According to the complaint, the city mandates police officers receive ...
Read More »San Diego Firefighters File FLSA Lawsuit
Several current and former San Diego firefighters filed a federal lawsuit last week alleging the City of San Diego violated the FLSA. Eric Kelley, Patrick Hesters, and Eric Dunnick filed the suit on behalf of themselves and other similarly situated individuals in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California on April 2, 2019. The firefighters’ complaint states ...
Read More »Allegations of FLSA Regular Rate Violations Against CA Fire Department
Cathedral City, California, is the latest city to face allegations of unpaid overtime from one of its firefighters. Corey Goddard, an engineer/paramedic for the Cathedral City Fire Department, filed a federal lawsuit this week alleging his employer [Cathedral City] failed to include all remuneration in his and other firefighters’ regular rate of pay in violation of the FLSA. In the ...
Read More »Former Indiana Firefighter Alleges Retaliation Following FLSA Comp Time Payout Request
A former Indiana firefighter and fire chief is suing his former employer for allegedly violating the FLSA. Ernie Campbell, a former firefighter and the one-time Fire Chief of the Center Township Fire Department, in LaPorte, Indiana filed the suit on December 10. Campbell—an employee of Center Township Fire Department from 1989 to 2018—makes two basic claims in his complaint. The ...
Read More »Post-Employment Rights to Accrued FLSA Comp Time, Vacation, and Sick Leave
Today’s FLSA Question: I recently resigned my position with a municipal fire department to take another position at a neighboring fire department. Before I left, I had accrued over 200 hours of FLSA compensatory time (comp time), 80 hours of vacation, and another 250 hours of sick leave. Now, my former department refuses to pay me for these hours. Can ...
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