JACKSON, Miss. — Twenty-three Jackson police officers have filed suit against the city for lost overtime pay.
The Clarion-Ledger reports (http://on.thec-l.com/JYWYC9 ) the officers are among 255 officers who recently were offered time off in lieu of back pay after a U.S. Department of Labor investigation into the Jackson Police Department.
The lawsuit, seeking an unspecified amount of money, alleges the police department routinely paid officers their base wages instead of time and a half for overtime hours. And sometimes the officers received no pay, their attorney, Jeff Reynolds, wrote.
The specific findings of the investigation have not been made public. But according to one officer's settlement offer, which was redacted when provided to The Clarion-Ledger, violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act, the federal wage law, were documented as early as 2010 and as recently as November 2011.
Had the comp time been paid out as wages instead, it would cost the city $240,000, Mayor Harvey Johnson Jr. said in a statement last week.
"The total number of comp time hours accumulated in the comp time bank represents about 1 percent of the cumulative time that sworn officers work each year. Management at JPD will ensure that all shifts will be appropriately covered, and coverage of beats is not expected to be diminished due to employees taking comp time," Johnson said.
If the hours and wages owed are not in dispute, the lawsuit will hinge on whether the city can force officers to take comp time retroactively.
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Information from: The Clarion-Ledger, http://www.clarionledger.com