FDNY Settles FLSA Overtime Suit for $4.3 Million

The city of New York has agreed to settle the FLSA overtime claims of 326 fire inspectors for a grand total of $4.3 million. The lawsuit was filed last year by 26 original plaintiffs who alleged they were not compensated for all hours worked; their overtime was paid on an amount less than their regular rate; and the city failed to pay overtime in a timely manner.

The settlement includes costs of litigation as well as attorneys fees. According to a joint letter submitted by the attorneys for both sides:

• The Agreement provides that Defendants will pay $4,300,000.00 to resolve the lawsuit.
• The Settlement Amount will be paid as follows: (1) $2,145,133.00 in backpay by checks made payable to each Plaintiff (via direct deposit for current employees or by check delivered to Plaintiffs’ Counsel for separated employees) in the amount of each Plaintiff’s share as determined by Plaintiffs’ Counsel (described below); and (2) one check in the amount of $2,154.867.00 constituting liquidated damages, Service Awards, attorneys’ fees, and litigation expenses payable to Plaintiffs’ Counsel for distribution to Plaintiffs.
• Plaintiffs and their Counsel have signed agreements dictating how the attorneys’ fee and the litigation expenses should be deducted from Plaintiffs’ individual settlement payments prior to distribution of the Lump Sum Amount.
• Pursuant to these individual retainer agreements signed by each of the 326 Plaintiffs at the outset of the litigation, the Lump Sum Amount will be distributed as follows: (1) $1,058,510.38 in liquidated damages; (2) $16,475.49 in litigation expenses to Plaintiffs’ Counsel; and (3) a 25% contingency fee to Plaintiffs’ Counsel in the amount of $1,070,881.13 calculated after expenses are deducted.
• Additionally, each Plaintiff has been notified that $9,000.00 in Service Awards will be paid out of the Lump Sum Amount to the three Plaintiffs who served as Settlement Team Members, with each receiving $3,000.00.
• The Gross Damages Amount is equal to approximately 70% of what Plaintiffs could win on their best day in Court if Plaintiffs were successful in demonstrating to a jury that: (1) Plaintiffs worked through 4 unpaid 30-minute meal periods each week during a three year recovery period; (2) Plaintiffs worked up to 45 minutes per day before and/or after their paid shifts without pay; (3) Defendants failed to properly calculate the overtime pay rate; (4) Defendants failed to timely pay overtime compensation; (5) Defendants committed a willful violation, entitling Plaintiffs to a three-year statute of limitations; and (6) Defendants failed to establish both good faith and objective reasonableness thereby entitling Plaintiffs to a full compensatory award of liquidated damages.

Here is a copy of the original complaint, the settlement letter, and the court’s decision approving of the settlement