Deputies sue county for back wages
The Daily Inter Lake
Twenty nine former and current Flathead County Sheriff's Office deputies are suing the county commissioners and Sheriff Jim Dupont in a wage dispute.
The suit follows a similar action in Lewis and Clark County, where officers challenged whether they were being paid correctly under a formula established by Montana law.
Missoula attorney Karl Englund said he doesn't know how much money is involved in the Flathead County suit.
Neither does Deputy County Attorney John Smith, who represents the county in legal affairs. He said he has not yet received a copy of the suit. He was aware it was coming, though.
"We'll send it to the insurance company and see what they say. There is some possibility of some liability there," Smith said.
In the past month, some officials have speculated that the suit could cost the county hundreds of thousands of dollars allegedly owed to the officers.
Montana law outlines how salaries are calculated for sheriffs and deputies. It requires the sheriff's pay to be set by the county commissioners. Every sheriff must then be paid an additional $2,000, according to the law.
Wages for deputies are base on a percentage of the sheriff's salary, ranging from 74.1 percent for new officers to 86.5 percent for sergeants.
The lawsuit asserts that the formula should be calculated on the sheriff's
salary, including the $2,000. Flathead County failed to calculate the $2,000, the suit says.
As of July 1, the county began using the formula that includes the $2,000.
The second of three points in the suit is about the officers' longevity pay. Law provides for pay of 1 percent for each year of service. That should also be based on the additional $2,000 in the base pay, according to the suit. In Lewis and Clark County, the District Court also ruled that longevity should be calculated not on the minimum salary paid to the lowest-ranking deputy, but on the minimum salary in a deputy's rank.
The third issue involves overtime pay. State law provides that overtime be paid at one and a half times the employee's regular hourly rate. The suit alleges that overtime pay should include longevity pay.
Englund said that if the county is found to be out of compliance with the law, it could be required to compensate the deputies for two or three years' worth of back pay to which they are entitled.
The law also provides for a penalty that the county could be required to pay penalties of up to 110 percent to the officers.
"Whether or not we pursue all of that or part of that… that's all left to be seen," England said.
He said he doesn't believe there was malice on the county's part in calculating wages the way that it did.
A similar case has been filed in Cascade County and others may follow, England said.
The case will be heard by District Judge Kitty Curtis.