The DC Police Union has filed a lawsuit against the Office of Mayor Muriel Bowser, Attorney General Karl Racine, and the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) for allegedly not fully paying officers overtime during the public health emergency.
The union says it is representing in the lawsuit over one thousand members who are employed as police officers, detectives and sergeants by MPD.
The suit seeks to recover unpaid overtime which according to the plaintiffs stemmed from the District’s failure to include the $14 per diem hazard payments provided to DC employees required to report for duty in-person during the coronavirus pandemic in the employees’ regular rates of pay upon which their overtime rate is based.
“This failure results in the employees receiving overtime compensation at an unlawfully low rate when they work in excess of the FLSA’s [Fair Labor Standards Act] overtime threshold and represents a clear violation of the law,” said the union’s attorneys in a press release.
“The lawsuit seeks backpay equal to the unpaid overtime owed to plaintiffs for the miscalculation of their overtime rate as well as an equal amount as liquidated damages … At a time when workers are struggling due to the COVID-19 pandemic, MSE’s [McGillivary Steele Elkin LLP] advocacy on behalf of workers nationwide is of particular importance in the fight to ensure that employees receive a fair day’s pay for a fair day’s work.”