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Former county employee files lawsuit
By J. David Barron, dbarron@starlocalnews.com
Former sheriff's deputy Taylor White has filed a class-action lawsuit against Denton County and the Denton County Sheriff's Department seeking damages for violation of laws requiring payment of overtime compensation. The suit was filed in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Texas in Sherman.
In the complaint filed by plaintiff's attorney John Melton, of Austin, it is asserted that White suffered overtime pay policies that are in violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act when he was "compensated with compensatory time on a straight time basis for hours worked from 81 through 86 during a 14-day work period."
The complaint further states "even though no agreement or understanding with respect to this issue has been reached, it has been the regular practice of Denton County for at least the last three years to pay overtime hours worked in the form of granting compensatory time as opposed to paying cash. As such," the suit continues, "when a non-exempt law enforcement employee [such as White was during his tenure as a deputy for Denton County] works in excess of 86 hours during a 14-day work
"Because there has been no agreement or understanding with respect to these payments, however, and because defendants have not otherwise properly paid plaintiffs for all hours worked up to 86 hours in a 14-day work period ... defendants have violated the FLSA by not properly paying overtime in cash as opposed to the granting (of) compensatory time on a straight-
time basis."
The suit contends payment for all hours worked in an overtime workweek is required, and that overtime work must be compensated as premium pay, otherwise known as time-and-a-half.
Damages sought include liquidated damages, attorney's fees, taxable costs of the court, and pre-judgment and post-judgment interest.
Newly elected Denton County Sheriff Will Travis responded with a statement through the county's legal department that said,
“We received the court paperwork ... regarding the lawsuit and are currently evaluating the issues in the case. We will have no further comment regarding this pending litigation.”
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