Corpus Christi utility workers suing the city for unpaid on-call wages

A number of former and current city employees are suing the city of Corpus Christi for allegedly not compensating them for "years of unpaid on-call pay."

The collective action complaint alleges the city violated the Federal Fair Labor Standards Act by not paying the hourly wastewater department employees "on call" pay, according to the Herrman and Herrman Law Firm, which is handling the case.

Unpaid wages, damages, attorney fees, court costs and interest are being sought for city water department employees and foremen "who were required to be on call after hours" and other "similarly situated" employees who joined the collective action, according to a news release.

Plaintiffs worked in the water, wastewater and utilities departments for the city, and "were all required to work on-call service," according to the lawsuit. They were hourly employees and claim they were not paid for on-call time where they were required to monitor and respond to their radios.

The lawsuit alleges this practice of nonpayment for on-call service has gone on for at least 10 years.

"Due to the (city's) willful intent to cover up and not inform (the workers) of their right to overtime pay, this Honorable Court should award equal to a 10-times multiplier of the amount of three years' back pay, as a sanction for that intent to deceive," the lawsuit says.

According to the lawsuit, the workers were required to respond within 30 minutes of the call, and respond to referred calls, or they were subject to disciplinary action. The lawsuit said they were to be "compensated two hours pay for every 24-hour shift that occurs during a normal day off, or compensated one hour pay for each on-call shift in addition to their work day."

The collective action complaint was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas.

The law firm was awarded conditional certification of collective action by the federal court based in Corpus Christi on behalf of city workers.

The lawsuit details that city workers "routinely worked more than 40 hours a week without on-call compensation contrary to the City's written policy, and in violation of provisions of the Federal Fair Labor Standards Act," the release stated.

The lawsuit does not detail whether the plaintiffs are full- or part-time workers.

According to the city's human resources policy on "Classification and Compensation Procedures," non-exempt employees shall be compensated at a rate of 1 1/2 times their hourly salary for time worked in excess of 40 hours per workweek."

"Departments may elect to compensate overtime worked by either paid dollars or by granting equivalent hours in compensatory time," according to the policy. "If an employee is required to work overtime, the department director or designee will designate whether the overtime is compensated as paid time or granted as compensatory time due to budgetary constraints."

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A nonexempt employee may accrue up to 80 hours of compensatory time, which must be used within 45 days following the week it was earned, unless otherwise authorized by the acting city manager.

"If not used within 45 days, it will be paid out in the following pay period," the policy reads.

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Under the on-call pay section, city employees will not be paid for both on-call pay and time worked when called into work.

The policy does detail two hours pay for every 24-hours on-call on a normal day off, and one hour for each on-call shift in addition to a normal work day.

"Unless they physically go on a call or return to the work site, as required by the operational needs of the department... in such cases, the employee shall be paid for actual hours worked, or a minimum of two hours," the policy reads.

Situations that would require employees to be on-call include natural disasters, such as Hurricane Harvey last year.

Plaintiffs are also seeking injunctive relief and hopes the court will prohibit the city from future violations and retaliation against them for bringing the claims forward, and also requiring the city to monitor and train its supervisors so that it doesn't happen again.

The city typically does not respond to ongoing lawsuits, said DeAnna McQueen, public information officer.

Twitter: @ReporterJulie