Facts

David Kries, Gary Ollison, and Maico Alejo all worked as non-exempt employees in different capacities for the City of San Diego. Kries, Ollison, and Alejo each individually sued the City on behalf of themselves and similarly situated former and current police officers employed by the City, former and current full-time City employees, and former and current City employees holding maintenance, labor, skilled trades and equipment operator positions for alleged wage and hour violations. The court consolidated the cases after the City submitted an unsuccessful motion to dismiss the second amended complaint Kries case. All parties, following a successful joinder, moved to settle the claims brought in the newly consolidated case.

PLAINTIFFS' CONTENTIONS: Plaintiffs contended that defendant violated the Fair Labor Standards Act by failing to pay plaintiffs unpaid overtime compensations. Plaintiffs also contended that defendants impermissibly cashed out plaintiffs' unused flex benefit plan dollars as "cash-in-lieu" ("CIL") payments instead of calculating the regular rate of pay for overtime payments. Plaintiffs also contended that defendants used a divisor and multiplier methodology which underpaid FLSA overtime by failing to allocate Flex Benefit Pay Credits to the regular rate earned during a
standard 40-hour, non-overtime workweek in violation of applicable law.

DEFENDANT'S CONTENTIONS: Defendant denied the contentions.

Result

The parties agreed to a $6.2 million settlement agreement to reflect the agreed-upon overtime backpay and the total amount of liquidated damages arising from plaintiffs' claims.

Other Information

Consolidated with: Candace Mitchell, et al., on behalf of themselves and all other employees similarly situated v. City of San Diego, Case Number: 17-cv-2014-GPC-BGS; Alberto Arellano, Maico Alejo, and Gary Ollison, on behalf of themselves and all other employees similarly situated v. City of San Diego, Case Number: 18-cv-0229-GPC-BGS