Former Maverick County Sheriff’s Department Employees Overtime Pay Federal Lawsuit Trial Against Maverick County and Maverick County Sheriff’s Department To Be Held September 27th

By: Miguel Munoz, Eagle Pass Business Journal, Inc., Copyright 2017

Two former Maverick County Sheriff’s Department employees, Daniel Cruz and Armando Sanchez, federal lawsuit against Maverick County and the Maverick County Sheriff’s Department for non-payment of overtime hours while working at the Maverick County Sheriff’s Department will be heard in a bench trial on Wednesday, September 27, 2017, at 9 A.M. before United States District Court Judge Alia Moses of the Western District of Texas, Del Rio Division, in Del Rio, Texas.

Daniel Cruz and Armando Sanchez, Plaintiffs sued individually and on behalf of similarly situated employees of the Maverick County Sheriff’s Department, alleging that they worked 50 to 60 hours of overtime per week without being compensated time and a half as required by the United States Fair Labor Standards Act. Cruz and Sanchez seek a judgment against Maverick County for actual damages, prejudgment and post-judgment interest, attorney’s fees, court costs and expenses.

The issue was first publicly raised at a February 13, 2014 Maverick County Commissioners Court Meeting by Sheriff Tom Schmerber and a female Sheriff’s Department Dispatcher wherein both advised Commissioners that Maverick County was not paying overtime as required by federal law.  Sheriff Schmerber advised Commissioners that this lack of payment of overtime hours to Sheriff’s Department employees dated back to June of 2012.

Shortly thereafter, the United States Department of Labor opened an investigation against Maverick County and the Maverick County Sheriff’s Department regarding alleged overtime pay violations.  Some of the Maverick County Sheriff’s Department employees accepted a settlement as a result of the U.S. Department of Labor investigation while others did not and are now going to trial on September 27th before U.S. District Judge Alia Moses.

The federal lawsuit is scheduled for Pre-Trial Conference and Bench Trial on Wednesday, September 27th, in Del Rio, Texas.  In the event that Plaintiffs are successful in their federal lawsuit, Maverick County may be subject to a significant amount of damages, prejudgment and post-judgment interest, attorney’s fees, court costs, and expenses.

Plaintiffs are represented by Glenn Deutsch Levy and Melinda Armbuckle of San Antonio, Texas while Maverick County and the Maverick County Sheriff’s Department are represented by Mark Anthony Sanchez of San Antonio, Texas.