Seven sergeants with the Oregon State Police have filed a class-action lawsuit against the agency, arguing they should be hourly employees paid overtime for their work. The lawsuit filed in Marion County Circuit Court this week involves sergeants stationed across Oregon, including men stationed in Marion, Clackamas, Klamath, Columbia, Jackson and Clatsop counties. According to the lawsuit, the sergeants are paid a salaried wage as though they are supervisors, but their primary duties are not managerial.
"In fact, many average in excess of 75 percent of their time performing, as their primary duty, job duties which are considered the primary duty of troopers under their supervision," Eugene attorney Rhonda Fenrich said in a May 7 letter to the Oregon attorney general's office. The agency has confused the issue by ordering the sergeants to account for all their time as either "supervisory-field" or "supervisory-non-field," Fenrich said in the letter.
Because of that, sergeants who perform normal trooper activities such as responding to a drunken driver or ticketing a speeder track their time on the call as "supervisory-field," even though they haven't supervised anyone, she said.
The lawsuit asks that the state police be forced to pay its sergeants for all unpaid overtime, as well as 30 days penalty wages.
Lt. Gregg Hastings said state police commanders are aware of the lawsuit.
"Because it is an ongoing situation, we can't comment on it, but we are working on it," he said.
(statesmanjournal.com)
