West Virginia Supreme Court ruling impacts Parkersburg firefighters’ lawsuit
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PARKERSBURG -- Representatives for the City of Parkersburg and its firefighters are recalculating damages in a lawsuit over holiday pay following a December ruling by the West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals.
A Dec. 8 hearing was continued following the release of the decision by the state's highest court, with Wood County Circuit Judge J.D. Beane giving the sides until Jan. 6 to submit calculations of the monetary damages and back pay due to each affected Parkersburg firefighter. The plaintiffs, defense and court agreed earlier this month to extend the deadline for submitting findings and calculations to Feb. 7.
The state Supreme Court court partially reversed a Monongalia County Circuit Court decision regarding how the City of Morgantown compensated its firefighters for holidays that fell during their shifts or regularly scheduled time off. For years, Morgantown had given firefighters a blanket 12 hours of paid time off for each holiday in the upcoming year, but the circuit court ruled that it should compensate them based on the portion of their 24-hour shift, either eight or 16 hours, that fell on the actual holiday.
The Morgantown firefighters appealed, saying they should be compensated for the full 24-hour shift and also challenging the judge's determination that the holiday compensation was not subject to West Virginia's Wage Payment and Collection Act, reducing the statute of limitations on collection of damages from five years to two.
The state Supreme Court ruled that holiday compensation qualifies as a fringe benefit under the act, a factor not in dispute in Parkersburg's case. But the court held 4-1 that the circuit judge was correct in ruling that holiday compensation is only due for the actual hours worked on a holiday, not the full shift spanning two calendar days.
"There is ... nothing to support the firefighters' suggestion that the city must automatically compensate them for 24 hours," the decision written by Justice John A. Hutchison says.
That was an issue in the Parkersburg lawsuit filed in 2020 by Lt. Wayne White, who has since retired at the rank of captain. Beane ruled in December 2022 that firefighters should be compensated for holidays based on a 24-hour schedule.
Attorneys for the plaintiffs and the city did not return messages seeking comment this week.
Parkersburg Mayor Tom Joyce recently said he was pleased with the state Supreme Court decision.
"I hope this will provide some clarity and finality to a matter that has been partially and incrementally adjudicated in multiple jurisdictions across (West Virginia) over the past 35 years," he said. "Ultimately, I hope we can resolve this matter permanently to ensure fair compensation for both fire personnel and police while being mindful of the long-term cost of personnel and enhanced benefits, such as holiday pay, to allow the City of Parkersburg to maintain the level of service to our residents and competitive compensation for our non-civil service personnel."
Evan Bevins can be reached at ebevins@newsandsentinel.com.