The City of Connersville, Indiana, has agreed to settle a federal lawsuit brought earlier this year by a Fayette County EMT who alleged the city failed to pay required overtime to EMS personnel.

The suit was filed in February, 2024 in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Indiana. Josh Hensley, a paramedic employed by Fayette County EMS, filed the case individually and on behalf of other EMTs and paramedics, as a class action. The complaint alleged the city operates Fayette County EMS, and that the EMS agency “failed to pay Hensley and other salaried paramedics and EMTs at a rate of not less than one and one-half (1.5) times their regular rates of pay for hours that they worked in excess of forty (40) hours in a workweek.” 

According to the complaint, Fayette County EMS employees were scheduled for workweeks exceeding forty hours and were provided “one (1) comp day a month,” but were not paid overtime or provided compensatory time “in an amount not less than one and one-half (1.5) times for each overtime hour” worked. In fact, they were treated as overtime-exempt personnel.

 The filing further asserted that EMS personnel did not have fire-suppression authority, were not employed by the city’s fire department, and therefore did not fall within any FLSA exemption applicable to firefighters. 

The complaint alleged the city “knew and/or recklessly disregarded” that the employees were working more than forty hours per week without appropriate overtime compensation. 

 Hensley sought unpaid overtime wages, liquidated damages, and attorneys’ fees under 29 U.S.C. § 216(b).

This week, the News Examiner reported that the City of Connersville will pay to settle the lawsuit. The article indicates the settlement ends the litigation, although the specific terms were not disclosed. It cites Mayor Chad Frank as saying that while the exact amount is not known, he expects the settlement will ultimately cost the city at least $425,000. More on the settlement.

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Here is a copy of the complaint.