Potential class action suit names county and commissioners, and alleges county has not properly remedied previous issues with lost pay.
By Matt Kyle
Dallas Morning News
https://www.dallasnews.com/
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A lawsuit filed in federal court Friday alleges Dallas County failed to properly compensate thousands of employees within the sheriff’s office for working overtime.
Issues with pay in the sheriff’s office have been previously reported, as miscommunications about how to classify overtime pay resulted in employees losing pay from several paychecks last year. A rollout of a new software system in 2023 also resulted in hundreds of employees getting paychecks with money missing. Both instances resulted in a Department of Labor investigation, and the 2023 issue resulted in the county paying more than 800 employees about $460,000 in owed wages.
Now, the lawsuit, filed by several current and retired employees of the sheriff’s office, alleges Dallas County has not taken proper steps to remedy these issues. According to the lawsuit, record-keeping for employees’ compensatory time is unreliable and has resulted in employees not being properly compensated for their work over the past three years.
“The County’s payroll and compensation system is broken,“ the lawsuit said. ”It has been broken for many years.”
According to the suit, the previous issues resulted in hours of earned compensatory time being lost, and it alleges the county erased already-earned hours by limiting the total amount of compensatory time that could be accrued. The suit also alleges that retired and terminated employees were not paid for their accrued hours.
The suit also alleges that employees have been retaliated against for filing complaints about the missing pay.
Christopher Dyer, the president of the sheriff’s office labor union and a plaintiff in the lawsuit, said staffing problems at the sheriff’s department have meant employees at the jail are mandated to work two overtime shifts per week, and sometimes more. However, due to the shortages, he said employees are not able to take compensatory time when they want and are limited on when they can use the hours.
He said in 2003, the sheriff’s department had mandated employees take compensatory time in lieu of overtime pay. Dyer said this meant many employees had over 20 years’ worth of accruals that were then lost when the cap was put in place, and they were not paid for the time lost. He also said employees were not paid for their comp time upon retirement.
Dyer said there are thousands of worked hours that employees have yet to be paid for.
“I’ve been at Dallas County pushing 39 years, and we have always had these types of issues with county government,” Dyer said. “They do not like paying overtime.”
The lawsuit asks for damages in the form of payment for the unpaid hours and lost wages, as well as pre- and post-judgment interest and incurred legal fees. The suit also includes a class action allegation, allowing any past, current or future employees who worked overtime and were not properly paid to join the suit.
In addition to the county, the lawsuit names each member of the Dallas County Commissioners’ Court as a defendant. A spokesperson with the sheriff’s office did not respond to an email requesting comment Saturday.
A spokesperson for County Judge Clay Lewis Jenkins said he does not comment on pending litigation.
Matt is a breaking news reporter. He is a graduate of Baylor University and is a native of San Antonio. When not writing, he enjoys listening to blues and folk music and playing his guitar. Previously, Matt has written for the Waco Tribune-Herald.
This story, originally published in The Dallas Morning News, is reprinted as part of a collaborative partnership between The Dallas Morning News and Texas Metro News. The partnership seeks to boost coverage of Dallas’ communities of color, particularly in southern Dallas.
