Judge Denies Motion to Dismiss and Grants FLSA Conditional Certification in Lieutenant’s Suit for Overtime
On January 11, 2023, the lawyers at Frankel Syverson PLLC filed a lawsuit in the United States District Court for the District of Arizona on behalf of an employee of Maricopa County working as a Patrol Lieutenant for the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office, seeking to recover unpaid overtime for hours he alleges to have been required to work over forty in a workweek without receiving time and a half.
The Patrol Lieutenant alleges that after he received his promotion to Lieutenant, Maricopa County began improperly classifying him as exempt from overtime and not paying him time and a half for hours he is required to work over forty in a workweek. Specifically, the Patrol Lieutenant alleges that his primary duty remains law enforcement first responder duties, monitoring the police radio for patrol activity and responding to calls as required by Maricopa County. To the extent that he also has supervisor or administrative duties in the office, the Patrol Lieutenant alleges that he does not have discretion in how he performs those duties and law enforcement remains his primary duty. As a result, the Patrol Lieutenant alleges that he and the other Patrol Lieutenants like him should be getting paid overtime for hours they work over forty in a workweek.
The County filed a Motion to Dismiss the lawsuit on various grounds, which the Court denied on October 25, 2023.
In addition, the Court granted conditional certification of the case as a collective action under the Fair Labor Standards Act and approved a Notice and Consent Form to be distributed to the Patrol Lieutenants who comprise the collective. This will allow current and former Patrol Lieutenants who worked for the County and comprise the collective to receive Notice about the Lawsuit and be given an opportunity to file a Consent Form to join the case.