)        FLSA OPT-IN COLLECTIVE ACTION  )  Defendant.  )  14. Mr. Whitlock began working for Defendant part time in 1987 and became a full time  employee in 1991 as a Paramedic in its EMS Department.  1  Plaintiff reserves the right to modify or amend the "Paramedic/EMT" Class Description upon newly discovered  information gathered through the discovery process.  5   15. Defendant’s EMS Department is almost entirely comprised of hourly paid paramedics and  emergency medical technicians (“Paramedics/EMTs”) whose primary duties consist of responding  to a variety of medical calls ranging from minor, non-emergency matters to calls of life- threatening medical conditions.   16. Paramedics/EMTs work in ambulance crews which consist of a mix of paramedics and  EMTs and are typically stationed in their own facilities provided by Defendant. Likewise, they  generally do not share equipment with other departments. Defendant's EMS Department is  completely separate from Defendant’s Fire and Police departments. Paramedics/EMTs of  Defendant’s EMS Department are treated separately from Defendant’s Fire and Police  departments and serve completely separate and distinct functions, have a separate chain of  command, have some separate facilities, have separate policies and procedures, have separate  schedules, and have separate compensation terms.   17. The work and pay records of Plaintiff and the putative class are in the possession,  custody, and/or control of Defendant, and Defendant is under a duty, pursuant to section 11(c) of  the FLSA, 29 U.S.C. § 211(c), and the regulations of the United States Department of Labor, to  maintain and preserve such payroll and other employment records from which the amount of  Defendants’ liability can be ascertained. Plaintiff requests an order of this Court requiring  Defendants to preserve such records during the pendency of this action.   18. Plaintiff and the Paramedic/EMT Class are not employees of Defendant’s Fire or Police  departments.   19. Paramedics/EMTs typically work twenty-four hour shifts that begin at 8:00 am and end at  8:00 am the following day, followed by approximately two (2) days off duty. In other words,  Paramedics/EMTs worked one (1) regular shift every third day, which produced a pattern of  6  work of forty-eight (48) hours or seventy-two (72) hours per week, depending on whether a  particular week included two (2) or three (3) shifts of duty. Defendant's policy is to deduct  Paramedics/EMTs’ pay two (2) hours of time per 24 hour shift, which is purportedly to represent  time spent for meals and rest breaks (two (2) thirty (30) minute meal breaks and four (4) fifteen  (15) minute rest breaks). This results in the Paramedics/EMTs only being compensated at their  straight time rate for twenty-two (22) hours for every twenty-four (24) hour shift unless that shift  results in work over twenty-four (24) hours (e.g., the shift lasts 26 hours).   20. Paramedics/EMTs in the EMS Department were not assigned to fire suppression duties,  regularly worked in excess of forty (40) hours per week, generally working one full twenty-four  (24) hour shift every third day, totaling either forty-eight (48) hours or seventy-two (72) hours  per work week.    21. Paramedics/EMTs did not receive the correct over-time pay as required by the FLSA. Per  Defendant's custom and policy, Paramedics/EMTs are only paid overtime (1.5 times their  regular rate) for working past their standard twenty-four (24) hour shift. Even then,  Paramedics/EMTs sometimes are only compensated with “comp time” to be used at a later date  and only paid at the straight time rate.   22. Per Defendant's custom and policy, when Paramedics/EMTs pick up extra shifts they are  only paid with “comp time.”   23. Mr. Whitlock and the other Paramedics/EMTs routinely work two (2) to three (3) 24- hour shifts during a workweek.   24. Despite working over forty (40) hours in a single workweek, neither Plaintiff Whitlock  nor the other Paramedics/EMTs ever receive overtime compensation for hours worked over  forty (40) unless they work over twenty-four (24) hours in a particular shift and the EMS  7  Department chooses to compensate them at 1.5 times their regular rate instead of “comp time.”  Otherwise they only receive their regular rate of pay or “comp time.”   25. Defendant maintained a policy that required Plaintiff to regularly work “off the clock.”  This caused Plaintiff and similarly situated employees to perform work without receiving their  hourly rate of pay for all hours worked. In some workweeks, this caused Plaintiff and other  similarly situated employees to work more than forty (40) hours without receiving the correct  overtime compensation for the hours worked beyond forty (40) in that workweek.   26. In certain months throughout the year (typically months with 31 calendar days), Plaintiff  Whitlock and the other Paramedics/EMTs regularly work eleven (11) shifts or four (4) shifts in a  particular week, but are only paid for ten (10) shifts or three (3) for that week during said pay  period(s), resulting in an entire shift being uncompensated. Defendant’s aforementioned unlawful  “off the clock” policy is a result of Plaintiff Whitlock and putative class members being paid two  (2) times per month rather than every two (2) weeks or biweekly.   27. At all times relevant to this Collective Action Complaint, Plaintiff and the members of the  proposed class were not regularly engaged in fire protection or law enforcement activities during  their employment with Defendant, nor were dispatched to perform fire suppression duties at fire  suppression or law enforcement situations.    28. Plaintiff and putative class members did not have the legal authority and responsibility to  engage in fire suppression during the relevant time period.    29. With regard to meal times, Defendant did not meet the strict requirements of 29 C.F.R. §§  553.223, 785.19, and 785.22 to automatically deduct one (1) hour (consisting of two (2) thirty  (30) minute meal breaks) from each shift as non-compensable time for “bona fide meal periods.”  Plaintiff was not completely relieved from duty for the purpose of eating regular meals, but  instead was required to perform his regular duties while eating. In addition, Defendant did not  8  monitor any shift to ensure that each employee actually received the full one-hour allotted time  for meal periods as reflected in the deductions from their compensable time, nor were employees  compensated for actual, emergency calls to duty that occurred while they were eating their meals.   30. With regard to rest periods, Defendant automatically deducted one (1) hour (consisting of  four (4) fifteen (15) minute rest periods) from each shift as non-compensable time for “bona fide  rest periods” in direct violation of  29 C.F.R. § 785.18.   31. County and EMS department officials are aware of the obligation to pay overtime  compensation, as other hourly employees of the Defendant are paid overtime compensation.  Those officials, however, have willfully chosen to deny the Paramedics and EMTs of the EMS  Department the rights afforded them under the FLSA. This is despite these employees'  complaints and Defendant's knowledge of the extremely long hours worked by these employees.   32. At all times relevant to this Collective Action Complaint, Plaintiff was a good and faithful  employee of Defendant and consistently performed all of the essential functions of his job in an  acceptable and competent manner.   33. Defendant’s violations of the FLSA were willful and were in complete disregard of the  rights of Mr. Whitlock and his Paramedic/EMT colleagues.  V.  34. Plaintiff re-alleges and incorporates paragraphs 1–33 as if fully set forth herein.   35. Plaintiff and Class Members were subjected to the same pay provisions and violations in  that they were employed as hourly-paid Paramedics/EMTs and not compensated for all hours  worked and not compensated at time-and-one-half for all hours worked in excess of forty (40)  hours in a workweek.   36. Defendant’s failure to compensate EMS department employees for all hours worked and  9  hours worked in excess of forty (40) in a workweek as required by the FLSA results from a  policy or practice of paying only regular time for overtime hours,  paying only “comp time”  for overtime hours worked and by automatically deducting 2 hours of compensable time from  each twenty-four (24) hour shift worked by Plaintiff and Class Members. These policies or  practices were applicable to Plaintiff and Class Members. Application of these policies or  practices does not depend on the personal circumstances of Plaintiff or those joining this  lawsuit. Rather, the same policies or practices, which resulted in the non-payment of overtime  and all hours worked, that applied to Plaintiff applied to all Class Members.   37. Defendant was aware of its obligation to pay overtime to Plaintiff and Class Members  and failed to do so. Defendant knowingly, willfully, or with reckless disregard carried out its  illegal pattern or practice of failing to pay overtime compensation with respect to Plaintiff and  Class Members.  38.  Plaintiff re-alleges and incorporates paragraphs 1–37 as if fully set forth herein.   39. This action is maintainable as an opt-in collective action pursuant to 29 U.S.C. § 216(b)  as to claims for unpaid overtime compensation, liquidated damages, interest, attorneys’ fees, and  costs under the FLSA.   40. Pursuant to the FLSA “overtime must be compensated at a rate not less than one and one- half times the regular rate at which the employee is actually employed” during the first forty (40)  hours of work. 29 C.F.R. § 778.107.   41. Mr. Whitlock is similarly situated to current and former Paramedics/EMTs in that  they all had/have similar job duties (i.e. responding to medical calls, transporting medical  patients via ambulance, and performing basic medical procedures), similar supervisors, similar  10  compensation terms, similar policies to which they are subject, and similar damages.   42. Mr. Whitlock is a representative of those other current and former Paramedics/EMTs  and is acting on behalf of their interests as well as his own interest in bringing this action.   43. During the relevant period, Defendant has violated and is violating the provisions of  Sections 6 and/or 7 of the FLSA, 29 U.S.C. §§ 206, 207, and 215(a)(2), by employing employees  in an enterprise engaged in commerce or in the production of goods for commerce within the  meaning of the FLSA as aforesaid, for workweeks longer than forty (40) hours without  compensating such employees for their work in excess of forty (40) hours per week at rates no  less than one-and-a-half times the regular rates for which they were employed. Defendant  has acted willfully in failing to pay Plaintiff and Class Members in accordance with the law.  FAIR LABOR STANDARDS ACT  