ARLINGTON, Texas — Deputy chiefs with the Arlington Fire Department are suing the city, arguing they're owed more than $250,000 in overtime pay.
The suit was filed in the Tarrant County Courthouse Wednesday morning by deputy chiefs Troy Brooks and Scott Hofstrom.
Court documents show the plaintiffs are asking the city to pay them more than $250,000 in financial relief but not more than $1 million, excluding punitive damages, attorney fees and interest.
Both plaintiffs regularly work more than 212 hours in a 28-day work period, the suit details, and must be paid overtime premiums for hours worked in excess of 212 hours in a work period. But the plaintiffs argue the city has failed to pay them for their hours worked in excess, at a rate equal to one-and-a-half times the compensation paid for regular hours.
Due to this, the deputy chiefs are asking in court that the city pay each of them in back pay for every overtime hour worked, as well as pre-and post-judgment interest at the highest lawful rate for all amounts awarded to them.
This isn't the only city in the metroplex where firefighters have been arguing they're owed money. In May, the Dallas Fire Fighters Association argued the City of Dallas owed them money for December and January when the Omicron variant had impacted staffing. They said hundreds of firefighters were owed back pay for overtime hours worked.
"The City of Dallas is jerking around its firefighters," DFFA President Jim McDade said at the time. "We don't need it in another month or two weeks, or another three months; we need it now."
