GREAT NEWS!
Earlier this morning, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit affirmed the jury’s verdict, and the district court’s order on damages, in the October 2019 trial on behalf of the paramedics and EMTs pre-shift and post-shift FLSA claims in the lawsuit Perry, et al. v. City of New York. The court rejected all of the City’s arguments. In its decision, the Second Circuit ruled that the City – and all employers – must pay their workers for all work they know about or could with reasonable diligence know about, as well as all work that is required, even if the worker did not request to be paid for the overtime work. This is excellent news for the plaintiffs, and for all EMTs and Paramedics who work for the City, risking their lives on a daily basis to protect the citizens of New York.
While the City could potentially request to have the case reheard before the entire panel of appellate judges, we expect that such a request would be denied, that this decision will become final, and that damages will be paid to the Perry plaintiffs by the end of this calendar year. Interest will accrue on the judgment until paid.