Front line medical workers in New York have just confirmed a huge win of significant owed wages. Nearly 2,500 EMTs and paramedics will keep their $14.5 million award after they filed a class action lawsuit back in 2013 under the Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”). Despite the city and FDNY disputing the award and asking it be overturned, a U.S. District Judge Vernon S. Broderick ruled in favor of the front line medical workers. The federal judge noted that the city’s FLSA violations were willfully enforcing policies that kept these essential workers from getting paid for all of the hours they worked.
The lawsuit had claimed that emergency medical technicians and paramedics working for the city completed significant amounts of pre-shift and post-shift work that the department failed to pay. Codes that would’ve allowed thousands of paramedics to put in for overtime were not given as they should have been. The result was our hard working front line medical employees worked off the clock before and after their shifts started and ended without any pay. The judge awarded the workers $7.2 million in back pay and another $7.2 million inliquidated damages.
If you work in this industry, make sure all of your pre and post shift work is accounted for and logged to ensure proper payment. If you feel you may be missing pay, speaking to an employment attorney may be helpful to help decipher if you may be owed wages. Our firm, Fitapelli & Schaffer, LLP, offers a free and confidential consultation to see if you may have a claim. You can reach us at (212) 300-0375 or visit our website for additional helpful information regarding your rights.