Anna Spoerre
The Kansas City Star
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Kansas City is paying out more than $2 million to settle a lawsuit for back wages brought by current and former members of the Kansas City Fire Department.
The settlement agreement, reached earlier this month, came after a lawsuit filed in federal court alleged that the city violated the Fair Labor Standards Act. The firefighters accused the city of “willful failure and refusal to pay overtime wages.”
They said the city incorrectly calculated hundreds of employee’s overtime wages, causing them to be underpaid, according to the lawsuit. These employees had completed training certifications which earned them a higher, “specialty” pay rate. But they said the city instead paid them the lower “pre-certification” rate.
The city in court records has denied all allegations of wrongdoing.
The total settlement reached amounts to $2,060,192.83, which includes $300,000 in attorney fees, according to court records.
The final payout will be distributed among more than 380 current and former KCFD employees, including firefighters, fire apparatus operators and captains, according to court records. All said they were underpaid between Jan. 10, 2016 and April 30, 2021.
On March 3, the City Council passed an ordinance that approved and authorized $4 million for both the settlement and an arbitration with the union on behalf of its members, said city spokeswoman Maggie Green.
The firefighter’s union Local 42; the city and the fire department did not respond to requests for comment regarding the settlement or any changes that resulted from it.
The Star’s Bill Lukitsch contributed to this story.
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