Maverick County Sheriff’s Department Employees sue Maverick County and Maverick County Sheriff’s Department in federal court for violating Fair Labor Standards Act

By: Jose G. Landa, Copyright 2014, Eagle Pass Business Journal, Inc.

Former Maverick County Sheriff’s Department employees, Daniel Cruz and Armando Sanchez, have filed a lawsuit in the United States District Court for the Western District of Texas, Del Rio Division, against Maverick County and the Maverick County Sheriff’s Department for allegedly violating the federal Fair Labor Standards Act for non-payment of overtime hours worked at the Maverick County Sheriff’s Department on August 1, 2014.

As first reported exclusively by the Eagle Pass Business Journal in February 2014, Maverick County Sheriff Tom Schmerber and a female dispatcher employee advised Maverick County Commissioners Court on February 13, 2014 at a public meeting that Maverick County was not paying its Sheriff’s Department Dispatchers and Deputies for overtime hours worked at the Sheriff’s Department. At the February 13, 2014 Commissioners Court meeting, Sheriff Schmerber and the dispatcher advised Commissioners Court that Dispatchers were working between 32 to 48 hours overtime without being properly compensated by Maverick County. Subsequently, Sheriff Deputies raised the same issue of nonpayment of their overtime hours at the Maverick County Sheriff’s Department.

Also as first reported exclusively by the Eagle Pass Business Journal, the United States Department of Labor conducted an investigation of Maverick County and the Maverick County Sheriff’s Department of their non-compliance with the Fair Labor Standards Act, which requires Counties to pay time and a half to employees or compensatory time off for overtime hours.

The federal lawsuit alleges that “the individual Plaintiffs, and all other similarly situated employees did not receive overtime compensation accumulated throughout their employment at the Maverick County Sheriff’s Department. The Maverick County Sheriff’s Department’s policy and practice is to deny earned wages and overtime pay to employees. Defendants’ deliberate failure to pay employees their earned wages and overtime compensation violates the Fair Labor Standards Act. Plaintiffs now bring this action on behalf of themselves and all others similarly situated. Defendants oftentimes instructed them (Plaintiffs) to work off the clock, to not record all their hours worked, and to work on their designated days-off. However, overtime wages and accumulated days-of were never fully compensated by Defendants.”

The federal lawsuit alleges that Plaintiffs worked regularly between 50 to 60 hours a week but were only paid for 40 hours a week, denying them their overtime compensation.

The federal lawsuit seeks to join other similarly situated employees or former employees of the Maverick County Sheriff’s Department during the past three years to “opt-in” into the lawsuit for alleged Fair Labor Standards Act violations by Maverick County and the Maverick County Sheriff’s Department.

The federal lawsuit alleges that Maverick County and the Maverick County Sheriff’s Department did not act in good faith and deliberately engaged in a common policy, plan, and decision of not paying overtime compensation in violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act.

In an exclusive interview with the Eagle Pass Business Journal, Sheriff Tom Schmerber stated that this overtime compensation dilemma started in June of 2012 during the past Sheriff’s Administration when Commissioners Court took action to reduce County employees work week to 35 hours and a 10% pay reduction to County salaried employees and all publicly elected officials. Sheriff Schmerber noted that former Sheriff Tomas S. Herrera complained about this overtime situation and the increased security risks to County citizens as a result of less Deputy Sheriffs and Jailers to Commissioners Court and requested them to increase all Sheriff’s Department employees to 40 hours again, which they did. Maverick County Commissioners Court as the head of government is responsible for approving the County Budget, including the Sheriff’s Department.

The federal lawsuit alleges that Defendants failed to record and compensate all working time of its employees and requested Plaintiffs to work off the clock, not record their hours worked, and to work on their designated days-off as well.

Plaintiffs federal lawsuit seeks that they and similarly situated former or current employees of the Maverick County Sheriff’s Department recover an award of liquidated damages in an amount equal to the amount of the unpaid overtime pay worked, reasonable attorney’s fees, courts costs, and expenses.

Plaintiffs are represented by attorney Glenn D. Levy of the Law Office of Glenn D. Levy of San Antonio, Texas.

Over 20 former and current Maverick County Sheriff’s Department employees have allegedly signed letters to “opt-in” in the federal lawsuit.

This federal lawsuit may possibly cost Maverick County taxpayers several hundred thousands of dollars or more when everything is said and done.