Virginia police officers sue for unpaid overtime

A total of 73 current and former police officers recently filed a class action time and attendance lawsuit against the city of Richmond, Virginia, according to the Richmond Times-Dispatch.

The lawsuit alleges that officers were not paid overtime for working more than 171 hours in 28 days - their standard pay cycle - which violates regulations set by the Fair Labor Standards Act. Additionally, the plaintiffs claim that accurate records of employee attendance were not kept and meal breaks were automatically deducted from the hours for which officers were paid.

According to Harris Butler, attorney for the plaintiffs, the officers are owed damages equal to double the unpaid overtime, as well as interest. The suit does not name an amount, pending the acquisition of city documents, but Butler said he expected it to be "substantial," as quoted by the news source.

On a smaller scale, a Bowling Green, Kentucky, police sergeant sued the city earlier this year for two hours of overtime compensation that he received at a normal pay rate, the Bowling Green Daily News reports. 

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