Dallas Sues Former Fire Recruit to Recover $127,000 in Alleged Payroll Overpayments

The City of Dallas has filed suit against a former Dallas Fire-Rescue recruit, alleging that he continued to receive pay and benefits for approximately twenty months after resigning, resulting in an overpayment of $127,441.34.  

According to the petition, Ivan Gonzales was hired by Dallas Fire-Rescue on July 20, 2022, and worked under the supervision of Captain Corey Womack until resigning on June 19, 2023. Captain Womack reportedly processed and sent Gonzales’s termination paperwork to Human Resources on June 20, 2023, at which point Gonzales ceased working for the department and was no longer entitled to further pay.  

The City alleges that although the termination paperwork was submitted promptly, Human Resources did not process it until April 23, 2025. Because the paperwork was not entered into the system, Gonzales allegedly remained on Captain Womack’s team management roster during that period.  

The petition explains that Captain Womack supervised a roster of more than 250 recruits and was responsible for approving time entries each pay period. The City says the roster contained multiple employees with the names Ivan and Gonzales, which allegedly contributed to Gonzales remaining unnoticed on the roster after his resignation.  

At the time, recruits were expected to submit biweekly time entries through Workday, the City’s payroll software. However, the City alleges there was a presumption that if a recruit remained on the roster, the recruit had worked forty hours each week. When time entries were not submitted, supervisors would enter the missed time on the recruit’s behalf and approve it, resulting in a paycheck being issued.  

According to the lawsuit, because Gonzales remained on the roster, time entries continued to be submitted and approved on his behalf even though he had resigned and was no longer working for Dallas Fire-Rescue. The City alleges that from June 2023 through February 2025 he received regular payroll and benefits payments totaling $127,441.34. The petition states: “This money was not intended to be a gift. The payments have not been returned to the City.”  

The City further alleges that Gonzales knew he was receiving wages he had not earned. The petition states that on June 11, 2024—nearly one year after resigning—he logged into Workday and updated his direct deposit banking information, after which the payments were deposited into the new account.  

Dallas has asserted a claim for money had and received, alleging that Gonzales is holding funds that “in equity and good conscience” belong to the City because no work was performed in exchange for the payments. In addition to repayment of the $127,441.34, the City is seeking prejudgment interest, court costs, and post-judgment interest.  

News coverage of the suit provides several additional details:

• The overpayment was discovered in February 2025, after which payroll stopped paying Gonzales, with the Workday termination finalized in April 2025.  
• Dallas Fire-Rescue conducted a department-wide audit and concluded the matter was an isolated incident.  
• Disciplinary action was taken against Gonzales’s supervisor, a fact not mentioned in the lawsuit.  
• The department changed its payroll control process so that training lieutenants now handle time entry for assigned recruit classes instead of one captain handling all recruits.

Here is a copy of the complaint: