The U.S. District Court for the Western District of North Carolina has approved a settlement in a Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) lawsuit brought by two former members of the Robinson Volunteer Fire Department and Rescue, Inc. The suit, filed September 9, 2024, by Akash Patel and Aaron Garbus, alleged that RVFD failed to pay overtime as required under the FLSA, and that Patel was terminated in retaliation for raising the issue.

Here is our original coverage, including a copy of the complaint.

Patel and Garbus served in Firefighter/EMT and EMT/Driver roles. They claimed that prior to January 2023, RVFD paid them only their regular hourly rate regardless of hours worked. In January 2023, the department instituted a “variable rate” overtime plan under which members had to work 171 hours in a month before overtime would be paid. Under that plan, the regular pay rate was reduced based on total hours worked in the pay period.

In August 2024, RVFD issued Patel a check for $20,759.20 for alleged unpaid overtime and indicated it would issue Garbus a $13,000 payment. Patel was fired shortly after the payment was made. The result was the lawsuit alleging FLSA violations and retaliation.

The resulting agreement calls for RVFD to pay a total of $62,907.51, broken down as follows:

• $17,920.75 to Patel for liquidated damages;
• $13,665.50 to Garbus for alleged unpaid wages;
• $13,665.50 to Garbus for alleged non-wage damages; and
• $17,655.76 to Gibbons Law Group, PLLC for attorney’s fees and costs.

The court found that a bona fide dispute existed over whether RVFD’s pay practices complied with the FLSA, and that the settlement was a fair and reasonable resolution of that dispute. In approving the attorney’s fee component, the court noted that the fee represented 35.8% of the net settlement amount and was below the lodestar amount calculated based on the hours and rates of counsel.

Here is a copy of the order approving the settlement.