Firefighters sued Modesto for overtime pay. How much will they collect?

Modesto owes some of its firefighters $100,086 to settle a lawsuit that alleges the city did not correctly calculate their overtime pay.

Modesto also owes the firefighters’ law firm $43,415 and spent $29,148 through January on its own legal costs, bringing the city’s total expense to more than $172,000. City spokesman Thomas Reeves said Modesto expects its final legal costs to increase slightly.

The firefighters — who include firefighters, engineers and captains — sued in federal court in Fresno in July 2016 alleging that how the city calculated their overtime pay violated the Fair Labor Standards Act. A judge approved the settlement and dismissed the lawsuit Tuesday.

The firefighters were represented by the Sacramento law firm of Mastagni Holstedt, which also represents the Modesto City Firefighters Association. “The firefighters just wanted to get this corrected, and we are happy this was amicably resolved,” attorney David E. Mastagni said.

MCFFA President Jair Juarez did not return a phone call seeking comment.

The settlement states there was no admission of wrongdoing and the city and firefighters reached this resolution to avoid the “potential uncertainty, expense and delay of litigation.”

Reeves added that “regardless of the lawsuit, the city was obligated to comply — and would have complied — with the law.”

The issue is these firefighters received monthly cash payments from the city in lieu of city-provided medical benefits. The lawsuit alleges the cash payments — $525 a month, according to the city — should have been included in the firefighters’ pay when calculating their overtime pay.

The settlement covers July 27, 2013, through March 7, 2017. The city started including the payments in its overtime calculations in March 2017, according to the settlement.

The settlement lists 22 firefighters who joined the lawsuit and an additional 30 who are eligible to join and collect a payment. The payments range from $77 to $13,136.

The lawsuit comes in the wake of a 2016 U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit decision called Flores v. City of San Gabriel, in which the court held that cash payments in lieu of medical benefits must be included in overtime calculations. The U.S. Supreme Court last year declined San Gabriel’s request to review the lower court decision.

Mastagni said there has been an increase in this type of litigation since the Flores decision. (He said the decision — which involved police officers suing their city — included some complicated issues that were not part of the Modesto litigation.)

For instance, Mastagni said there have been four lawsuits brought against Ceres. He said his law firm represents Ceres employees in one of the suits.

Modesto firefighters and other city employees have a choice of receiving medical benefits or taking the cash payment. Reeves, the city spokesman, said information on how many take the payment was not available Thursday. The city offers this choice because it is less expensive than providing benefits.

Reeves said the city is not aware of other Modesto employees seeking legal action against the city regarding their overtime pay.

This story was originally published March 18, 2018 at 8:29 AM with the headline "Firefighters sued Modesto for overtime pay. How much will they collect?."