North Carolina Fire Company Hit with FLSA Lawsuit from Three Former Firefighters

A group of three former firefighters from the East Lincoln Fire Department, Inc., a non-profit incorporated fire department operating in the suburbs outside of Charlotte, North Carolina, have filed a lawsuit alleging  the department failed to pay them and other firefighters overtime as required by the FLSA. According to the firefighters’ complaint, East Lincoln Fire fails to pay the firefighters overtime despite regularly working in excess of 40 hours per week.

Quoting from the complaint:

• ELFD is a non-profit, volunteer fire department that provides firefighting services to parts of Lincoln County, North Carolina.
• ELFD’s Board of Directors and Officers are selected independently of government decision-makers.
• ELFD hires employees directly and at its own discretion.
• Plaintiffs and the Collective are individuals who work and have worked for ELFD as Firefighters during the three-year period preceding the filing of this Complaint. Amongst other things, Plaintiffs and the Collective all share similar training, job descriptions, job tasks, and are subject to the same compensation and time recording policies and procedures.
• ELFD classified Firefighters as non-exempt under the FLSA.
• During the three-year period before filing this Complaint, ELFD paid Plaintiffs and the Collective an annual salary in bi-monthly paychecks that did not properly record or compensate them for all overtime hours that they worked.
• ELFD did not record the number of hours worked each pay period on Plaintiffs’ paychecks.
• ELFD scheduled Plaintiffs to work 24-hour shifts. ELFD scheduled Firefighter/EMTs, like Plaintiffs, to one of three shifts, A, B, or C. For example, throughout Gant’s employment with ELFD he worked on the C shift.
• ELFD based its scheduling off of Charlotte Fire Department’s scheduling. Accordingly, ELFD scheduled Plaintiffs and the Collective to work the following schedule: one day on, one day off, one day on, two days off, one day on, and four days off. This schedule then repeated.
• ELFD’s violations of the FLSA were willful. ELFD knew, and was aware at all times, that Plaintiffs and the Collective were not paid for all overtime hours worked because Plaintiffs and the Collective complained to ELFD about not being paid overtime correctly in violation of the FLSA. ELFD’s officers and board members responded to these complaints by stating that ELFD was “properly” paying overtime under the FLSA. ELFD also knew or should have known that Plaintiffs and the Collective worked overtime hours because it scheduled Plaintiffs and the Collective to work more than 40 hours per workweek.
• The conduct alleged above reduced ELFD’s labor and payroll costs.
• Plaintiffs and the Collective were subject to ELFD’s uniform policies and practices and were victims of ELFD’s scheme to deprive them of overtime compensation. As a result of ELFD’s improper and willful failure to pay Plaintiffs and the Collective in accordance with the requirements of the FLSA, they have suffered lost wages and other related damages.

Additionally, part of the firefighters’ complaint alleges that other “similarly situated” individuals [a.k.a. other firefighters that currently work for the department or have worked for the department at some point over the past 3 years] will likely “opt-in” to the lawsuit.

The firefighters are seeking back wages for the past three years, liquidated damages, and attorneys’ fees.

Here is more on Private Fire Departments and the FLSA and copy of the firefighters’ complaint.

The FLSA’s §207(k) Exemption May Not Be an Option for Some Fire Departments