Lawsuit Claims Parlier, CA Owes K-9 Officer Unpaid Wages

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Parlier, California is the defendant in a lawsuit in which the plaintiff claims the city’s method of computing K-9 police officers’ pay resulted in the underpayment of wages for overtime hours worked. 

The complaint explains the plaintiff was employed by Parlier as a K-9 police officer from March 2012 through January 2017, during which time, the case says, he regularly worked in excess of his scheduled hours. The plaintiff’s additional work time was spent training, boarding, grooming, feeding and generally caring for his canine while off duty, the complaint states.

“From October of 2014 through March of 2015, and from the beginning of January 2017 to early January of 2017, when the canine died, [Parlier] did not pay [the plaintiff] for his time spent transporting, boarding, training, grooming, feeding, or otherwise caring for the dog while off duty,” the lawsuit reads, claiming the plaintiff’s minimum and overtimes wages during this time were unlawfully reduced below the permissible thresholds.

The lawsuit adds that although Parlier reportedly paid the plaintiff for 30 minutes of work at his regular rate each day—amounting to seven hours of pay every two weeks—for care of the dog from April 2015 through December 2016, this compensation was still not appropriate under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA).