Tag Archives: white-collar exemptions

The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) is poised to increase the minimum the salary necessary to classify workers [including many high-ranking fire officers] as overtime exempt under the FLSA. The new rule, which will likely go into effect in early 2024 will raise the minimum required weekly salary for overtime exempt white-collar employees by $375 per week and the minimum ...

The City of Orlando is facing allegations of retaliation from several District Fire Chiefs following a recent federal lawsuit over unpaid overtime. According to the district chiefs, the city has announced wide-spread transfers among high-ranking city fire officers. The transfers will move several dozen Orlando Fire Department District and Assistant Chiefs to different shifts and stations. The district chiefs are ...

Cobb County, Georgia is no stranger to FLSA litigation. The county is yet again facing an FLSA lawsuit related to alleged misclassifying senior fire officers as overtime exempt executive employees. The most recent lawsuit contains very similar allegations as another misclassification lawsuit filed by a group of ten Cobb County battalion Chiefs last April. Cobb County Fire Department Battalion Chief ...

A group of twenty-four current and former “District Chiefs” from the Orlando Fire Department have filed a lawsuit in federal court alleging the city misclassified them as overtime exempt employees in violation of the FLSA. This lawsuit is the latest in a series of similar lawsuits filed by high-ranking fire officers from across the country seeking overtime pay. Quoting from ...

Lumpkin County Fire Department, located in Dahlonega, Georgia has agreed to settle a 2022 FLSA misclassification lawsuit filed by a former battalion chief. The lawsuit, which was filed on November 30, 2022, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia, contained allegations the county improperly classified Battalion Chief Sharon Booth as an overtime exempt employee in violation ...

Ten Cobb County, Georgia battalion chiefs have filed a federal lawsuit alleging the county has failed to pay them overtime as required by federal law. More specifically, the battalion chiefs claim the county misclassified them as overtime exempt “white collar” employees in violation of the FLSA. Quoting from the complaint: Within the last three years, and continuing to date, while ...

My friend and colleague Curt Varone recently posted a story on his Fire Law Blog entitled, “Part-Time Fire Chiefs and Compensation.” The post answered a burning question that Curt received on whether part-time fire chiefs can be classified as overtime exempt executive employees. Curt did a great job answering that question and providing some alternative options for compensating part-time fire ...

The City of Encinitas, California is one step closer to resolving an FLSA overtime lawsuit filed by four current and former fire department battalion chiefs. Lawyers representing the city and the battalion chiefs filed a joint motion in federal court last week to approve a settlement reached following an April 2022 lawsuit. The settlement requires the city pay the battalion ...

The Rancho Santa Fe Fire Protection District has settled a lawsuit filed earlier this year by two former fire department battalion chiefs. The settlement, which was approved by U.S. District Court Judge, Janis L. Sammartino on January 9, 2023, requires the district to pay a total of $99,000 to settle the former battalion chiefs’ overtime lawsuit. The two battalion chiefs ...

The City of Selma, Alabama has reached an undisclosed “confidential” settlement with three fire department assistant fire marshals/fire investigators following their 2021 lawsuit for unpaid overtime, breach of contract, and FLSA retaliation. The plaintiffs’ complaint set forth three basic allegations. First, the plaintiffs claim the city misclassified them as overtime exempt employees in violation of the FLSA. Second, the city ...