Tag Archives: first responders

A group of sixteen fire captains from the Marion County Fire and Rescue Department (MCFRD) filed a federal lawsuit last week claiming the county has violated the FLSA. In a complaint filed in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida, on September 18, 2019, the captains made two basic claims:

Today’s FLSA Question: I am a city HR manager and recently attended one of the FLSA for Fire Departments seminars. We have a new city manager that is looking to curb overtime costs within our fire department. Specifically, he wants to dock firefighters pay for the time spent eating meals. I know the FLSA allows for this practice, however how ...

Cook County, Illinois is the latest employer dealing with an overtime lawsuit filed by county workers. Three Regional Coordinators for Cook County Department of Homeland Security and Emergency Management (DHSEM) filed a lawsuit on August 21, 2019 in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois seeking unpaid overtime. Regional Coordinators Christopher Bruce, John David Daniel, and Brian ...

A lawsuit initially filed by only two Wisconsin paramedics in June 2018 has resulted in a settlement. The defendants in the suit—the Great Divide Ambulance Company and four different Wisconsin Townships—have agreed to pay twelve EMTs and medics a total of $255,000 to settle all overtime claims related to the suit. For more on the initial lawsuit: Wisconsin Medics Claim ...

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 ...

Retired Division Chief Ronald Pelham has reached a $115,000 court approved settlement with the City of Monrovia, California following an FLSA lawsuit. Pelham alleged, in his September 2018 complaint that the Monrovia Fire Department misclassified him as an overtime exempt executive employee and failed to pay him any FLSA overtime. Pelham’s lawsuit was one of several filed across the country ...

Unites States Federal District Court Judge Rosanna Malouf Peterson has ruled in favor of thirteen Hanford, Washington fire captains in their pursuit of FLSA overtime. This judgement is the latest in a series of recent rulings involving fire officers and FLSA overtime eligibility. For more on those see: Federal Magistrate Judge Dismisses OT Claims by VA Battalion Chiefs Absent Trial ...

In the latest legal twist involving battalion chiefs (shift commanders) and FLSA overtime eligibility, United States Magistrate Judge Lawrence R. Leonard has dismissed an overtime lawsuit filed by seven Chesapeake, Virginia Battalion Chiefs (BCs). The seven BCs filed the suit last July, in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern Division of Virginia, alleging the City of Chesapeake failed to ...

Today’s FLSA Question: I am a paid firefighter for a small non-profit volunteer fire company. Our organization has a large group of volunteer firefighters and an all-volunteer chief and command staff. I am one of two full-time (Monday-Friday) firefighters. I am treated as an hourly employee, however, I do not receive any overtime. Between trainings, after-hours calls, and regularly scheduled ...

Two Battle Creek, Michigan battalion chiefs (BCs) have again lost their claim for FLSA overtime. In a June 3, 2019 decision the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit upheld a lower court’s decision denying Battalion Chiefs Howard Holt and Martin Erskine overtime for time spent on-call after their normal work hours. Battalion chief Howard Holt, who retired in ...