Dispatchers Sue Over Post-Hurricane Overtime

When Hurricane Ike hit Galveston (Tex.) last September, they were called back public safety for virtually continuous duty, staying at the comm center or a nearby resort, and not allowed to go home to their families. Now a lawsuit filed by two dispatchers says they worked 16-hour days without relief, creating unbearable emotion pain. The living arrangements were “atrocious,” the lawsuit states, and the comm center “was sheer bedlam.” Other emergency personnel were paid for the entire time they were there, but the dispatchers received pay only for when they were on-duty. The two dispatchers now say they are due overtime pay, and are the only dispatchers brave enough to make a claim, their attorney says. Read more about the lawsuit here, and download (pdf) the complete lawsuit here.