Nearly five dozen Morgantown Fire Department firefighters are suing the City of Morgantown over holiday pay.
The class action lawsuit explains the procedure for paying firefighters during holidays and claims that the City of Morgantown failed to pay employees at a rate of at least 1.5 times the regular rate of pay, according to court documents. The lawsuit also argues that because the firefighters work a 56-hour work week, there is an established regular rate of pay, so they should be compensated at a rate of 1.5 times their normal pay for a holiday, whether on duty or not.
The lawsuit states that the firefighters are owed wages for numerous holidays, including some over a period of many years. Further, it states that some or all of these holidays constituted overtime situations for the firefighters on duty, meaning "they [are] entitled to two times their regular rate of pay for the overtime hours worked," according to court documents.
The lawsuit argues that efforts were made to resolve the matter through pre-suit mediation, which was unsuccessful.