LA City and Firefighters Poised to Settle FLSA Lawsuit for $9.5 Million

The City of Los Angeles and a class of more than 1,100 plaintiff firefighters have agreed to settle a 2023 lawsuit over unpaid work hours. The lawsuit, which was initially filed by three firefighters in federal court in February 2023, contained allegations that city firefighters were frequently being required to work beyond their 24-hour shift without compensation. Quoting from the ...

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Milwaukee Hit with FLSA Lawsuit for Off the Clock Work and Retaliation Related to Unpaid Study Time and Homework from a Former 911 Dispatcher

A former 911 telecommunicator/dispatcher for the City of Milwaukee, Wisconsin is suing her former employer alleging the city’s pay practices for probationary dispatchers violates the FLSA and that the city improperly retaliated against her when she complained. Christina Harris’s attorneys filed the suit in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin late last month. According to the ...

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CA Firefighters File FLSA Lawsuit Over Regular Rate Calculations

More than three dozen firefighters have filed an FLSA lawsuit against their employer, the City of Haywood, California alleging that the city improperly calculated their regular rate of pay in violation of the FLSA. The lawsuit was filed by thirty-seven named plaintiffs and other “similarly situated individuals.” This likely means that additional current and former firefighters will join in on ...

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Winston-Salem Fire Department Cuts Staffing Levels Due to Overtime

The Winston-Salem Fire Department has reduced its daily minimum staffing from 89 to 79 firefighters in response to a projected budget shortfall. According to department officials, the fire department is projected to end this fiscal year $600,000-700,000 over budget. This has led department officials to reduce the minimum staffing on all the city’s fire apparatus from four to three firefighters. ...

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Polk County FL to Hire 75 more Firefighters to Improve Work/Life Balance and Lower Mandatory OT

Polk County Fire Commissioners have authorized spending $9.2 million to hire an additional 75 firefighters. The hiring plan is in response to significant employee turn-over, which according to some is partly due to excessive mandatory overtime. County officials hope that the move will significantly decrease firefighter overtime. The current levels of overtime frequently require Polk County firefighters to work beyond ...

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Osceola County Settles with Battalion Chiefs Following FLSA Suit

Osceola County, Florida, and a group of fourteen current and former fire department battalion chiefs have reached a settlement following a 2024 misclassification lawsuit. The battalion chiefs claimed that the county misclassified them as overtime exempt executives in violation of the FLSA. The county countered that the battalion chiefs were “properly classified” and denied all of their claims. However, according ...

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CO Firefighter Files FLSA Lawsuit for Overtime While Attending Fire Academy

A former Aurora, Colorado firefighter has filed a lawsuit in federal court against his former employer seeking overtime pay for unpaid worktime while attending recruit school at the city’s fire academy. Joseph Elias filed the suit on behalf of himself and other similarly situated individuals in the United States District Court for the District of Colorado on January 21, 2025. ...

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FDNY Firefighter’s Union Blasts Congestion Pricing Partly Due to Increase in Overtime

According to the unions that represent FDNY firefighters and fire officers, the city’s new congestion pricing plan for vehicles entering lower Manhattan is going to increase overtime and response times for the almost 40 fire companies in the congestion pricing zone. The congestion pricing plan—which began last Sunday—charges drivers $9 per day per vehicle when they enter lower Manhattan. The ...

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