Thu, 07/01/2021
MSE has filed an opt-in class action lawsuit on behalf of Criminal Investigators who were not paid overtime while attending training programs at a Federal Law Enforcement Training Center (“FLETC”). Over 40,000 Criminal Investigators may be qualified to join this lawsuit.
The plaintiffs in this case are Criminal Investigators who have worked or currently work as employees of the United States of America within the last six years. The complaint that was filed earlier this month alleges that these Criminal Investigators were not paid for regularly scheduled overtime hours at FLETC locations in Glynco, GA, Oakbrook Terrace, IL, Artesia, NM, Charleston, SC, and Cheltenham, MD.
FLETC is the Nation’s largest provider of law enforcement training with programs designed for 105 different United States government federal law enforcement agencies. Rather than being agency-specific, training addresses common knowledge, skills, and abilities that are expected of all investigators, which allows Criminal Investigators from multiple agencies to attend FLETC trainings.
These Criminal Investigators receive Law Enforcement Availability Pay (“LEAP”) for their unscheduled overtime hours which is a 25% enhancement to their base salary. However, during training at FLETC they were routinely scheduled to work a sixth day of the week for which they should have been paid additional overtime at the rate of one and one-half times their regular rate of pay. This lawsuit seeks to recover those unpaid wages on behalf of the Criminal Investigators.
In a statement made about the case, the lead attorney on the case and MSE partner, Gregory McGillivary said, “this is a rather blatant violation of overtime law, and it comes at a time when the criminal investigators are most vulnerable and unlikely to report or even be aware of this pay violation. It is ironic that the entity responsible for teaching criminal investigators about the law blatantly violated the overtime law itself simply to save some budgetary funds.”
In an interview with the Federal Drive regarding the lawsuit, Greg McGillivary further explained that “…we’re looking at probably $5,000 to $10,000 per plaintiff who has gone through the 12 week [training] program [at a FLETC]. I do want to point out also that it’s a class action, but the class actions that are filed against the federal government are opt-in class actions. Most people are used to opt-out where five or six people file for a group of employees. You can’t do that against the federal government, everybody will have to join the lawsuit to participate.”
If you would like to learn more about this lawsuit, or if you think you may be eligible to join, email MSE at info@mselaborlaw.com.
Additional coverage for this lawsuit can be found on the Fox News website here.
