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Judge: Parkersburg must pay firefighters time-and-a-half for unused holiday hours

By Evan Bevins 3 min read

PARKERSBURG -- The City of Parkersburg must pay firefighters for unused holiday hours at a rate of time-and-a-half rather than straight time, a judge told attorneys Friday.

The clarification of the ruling in a lawsuit over the way the city calculates firefighters' holiday pay came on the same day a hearing to determine damages in the case was postponed until October.

Wood County Circuit Court Judge J.D. Beane had been scheduled Friday afternoon to hear testimony on the damages owed to firefighters after he ruled in their favor in December in a lawsuit claiming they were incorrectly compensated when they worked on holidays.

Parkersburg firefighters work 24-hour shifts that span two days but were only credited with time-and-a-half holiday pay or compensatory time for the hours that fell on the actual holiday. Beane ordered that they be credited with 24 hours for a shift that falls on a holiday, whether they work it or were scheduled to be off and receive comp time.

A hearing was scheduled for Friday morning on a motion by Johnnie Brown, representing the city, to strike testimony by a certified public accountant who filed a report on damages on behalf of the plaintiffs. Brown noted the report, submitted on Aug. 11, increased the recommended damages in a June report from approximately $4 million, including attorneys' fees, to $5.4 million.

The recommendation included legal fees and compensation for unused holiday hours at time-and-a-half rather than straight time, Brown said.

"What he has done, we believe, is to offer personal opinions and make legal decisions," Brown said.

Beane said he would determine the amount owed for attorneys' fees and would still allow the accountant to testify as an expert.

Plaintiffs' attorney Josh Miller said the second report was submitted after firefighters pointed out that the city paid them for unused holiday time at their regular rate instead of the holiday rate of time-and-a-half. The city pays the balance of banked holiday time down to 100 hours twice a year, he said.

"Either they get paid time-and-a-half … or they get to use PTO (paid time off) at a (standard) rate later," Miller said.

Firefighters are often unable to take their time off because of requirements that a minimum of 15 firefighters be on duty, he said.

"It's a forced paydown because a firefighter can't use the time that's accrued," Miller said.

The city has paid down unused holiday hours twice since Beane's ruling, both at straight time, Miller said.

Brown said the city's policy, as stated by ordinance, is to pay for unused hours at straight time and the judge's ruling did not address it. However, he acknowledged Beane had the authority to order that change.

"That's what I intended," Beane said.

"Okay, your honor, that's the law of the case," Brown said. "I may disagree, but I respect (it)."

Beane said he believed the hearing on damages should be continued because the updated report had been received less than 10 days ago. Ten days is the amount of notice he allows in similar situations in other cases, he said.

"I don't want to have an issue that's appealable," he said.

The parties agreed to reschedule the hearing for Oct. 6, although Miller requested it happen before arguments are heard Sept. 13 in front of the West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals in a related case out of Morgantown.

Brown said there was no need to have it before then since that ruling would ultimately impact the damages in the local case.

Evan Bevins can be reached at ebevins@newsandsentinel.com.

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