A group of public employees recently filed a collective action Complaint in federal court against Cuyahoga County, Ohio, their employer. Cuyahoga County contains the Cleveland metropolitan area.
Specifically, the employees allege that the County violated the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) by failing to compensate them for all overtime hours worked. The FLSA requires employers to pay all non-exempt employees overtime at one and one-half times their normal rate for all hours over 40 worked in one week.
The suit also alleges that some employees did not receive their pay in a timely manner, as required by law. Further, the County was “aware of the systematic and widespread failure with its payroll system,” but knowingly and willfully chose not to address the problem, the suit contends.
The plaintiffs believe that more than 2,000 current and former hourly employees suffered from the County’s unlawful pay policies during the last three years.
The case is titled Choukalas et al. v. Cuyahoga County, No. 1:18-cv-588 in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Ohio, Eastern Division.