Newark, NJ – A federal judge has rejected the City of Newark‘s attempt to dismiss a class-action lawsuit filed by three police department employees who allege they were systematically underpaid for overtime work.
In an opinion issued by the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey, the court declined to dismiss the claims brought by plaintiffs Vincent Deleva, Jamie Pinto, and Elddy Torres, who contend the city violated both the federal Fair Labor Standards Act and the New Jersey Wage and Hour Law.
The lawsuit, filed as a proposed class and collective action, alleges Newark failed to properly calculate officers’ “regular rate” of pay by excluding several forms of contractual compensation when determining overtime wages.
Employees claim overtime calculations excluded bonuses
According to the amended complaint, overtime should have been calculated using a regular rate that included several additional forms of compensation paid under the police department’s collective bargaining agreement…