Atherton, CA Named in Collective Action Over Allegedly Unpaid Overtime Wages

New to ClassAction.org? Read our Newswire Disclaimer

Atherton, California is the defendant in a former police dispatcher’s proposed collective action in which he claims he received overtime wages only for hours worked beyond 80 in a two-week period regardless of the number of hours worked past 40 in a single week.

The complaint explains that the plaintiff’s regular schedule consisted of three 12-hour shifts totaling 36 hours in his first workweek, followed by four 12-hour shifts totaling 48 hours in his second workweek. The plaintiff claims Atherton would only pay time-and-a-half overtime on the last four hours of his 84-hour, two-week schedule, even though he worked eight overtime hours during his second workweek. The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) requires time-and-a-half overtime to be paid to most hourly employees for hours worked past 40 in a single workweek.

In October 2016, the case continues, the defendant reportedly entered into a side letter with the Atherton Police Officers Association (APOA) to supposedly split dispatchers’ hours equally between two workweeks of 42 hours a piece. The plaintiff alleges Atherton failed to issue back overtime wages to dispatchers for hours for which they were only paid at their regular rate prior to the letter.

Lastly, the plaintiff claims Atherton miscalculated dispatchers’ regular pay rates for the purposes of tallying overtime compensation by leaving out money paid in lieu of medical benefits.