CMPD Sergeants Suing CMPD
The Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department apparently is flush enough with cash to come off the hip for spiffy, new dress-white uniforms for its command staff, but not to pay dozens of sergeants who have worked overtime.
Thirty-two CMPD sergeants, in fact, have filed a lawsuit that claims the Police Department and the City of Charlotte owe them hundreds of thousands of dollars in overtime pay. The U.S. Department of Labor agreed and in 2008, after launching an investigation into the complaint, substantiated the sergeants’ claims and found the city in violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act. The city had originally refused to pay the sergeants’ overtime because they were classified – “improperly and unlawfully” according to court documents – as salaried exempt employees.
In response to the Department of Labor’s opinion, the city agreed to pay the sergeants’ overtime pay using compensatory time, which is allowed in certain circumstances. Under the city’s approved policy, however, comp time in lieu of overtime pay cannot exceed 240 hours. In that light, the sergeants claim they are still owed significant wages. From the lawsuit, which was filed March 26 in US District Court, Western District of North Carolina:
“The defendant’s policy limited the amount of compensatory time which could be accrued to 240 hours. Notwithstanding this policy, the defendant has refused to compensate plaintiffs for overtime which would result in more than 240 hours of compensatory time, and the defendant has maintained a policy and practice of accumulating up to 480 hours of compensatory time, notwithstanding its policy and its agreement with its employees, including plaintiffs.
“While the defendant [the city] is entitled to award compensatory time off in exchange for overtime compensation, plaintiffs are entitled to recover overtime compensation for all overtime hours worked, to the extent that their overtime hours would result in such compensatory time off exceeding 240 hours.”
The CMPD sergeants’ suit seeks full compensation for the overtime pay they claim they are owed, along with legal fees. The city has not yet issued a response to the latest court filing.
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