MARTINSBURG – The City of Martinsburg and members of its fire department have reached an agreement in a lawsuit regarding holiday pay isues.
“Firefighters do a tough job and deserve to be paid,” Teresa Toriseva, who represented members of IAFF Local 805, said in a press release. “I am pleased to see the City of Martinsburg values its firefighters and the relationship it has with them.
“The compensation for back pay proves it wants to do right by those firefighters whose holiday pay was incorrectly paid.”
Martinsburg Mayor Kevin Knowles also lauded the agreement.
“The city appreciates all of the exceptional services that the firefighters provide to the city and its residences,” he said in the press release. “The city wants to ensure that it retains its highly trained and skilled firefighters and also be able to recruit top candidates in the future by agreeing to the changes in the compensation plan.
The city is pleased to put this to rest so both the city and the firefighters can work as a team to focus on and promote public safety.”
On February 28, the IAFF members and city officials met with a mediator to try to reach an agreement. The agreement resolves all issues raised in the lawsuit including back pay issues relating to overtime and holiday pay for firefighters. This includes a $1.75 million payment to the group of 37 firefighters who claim they were incorrectly paid. The settlement also includes a change in the method the firefighters will be paid for holiday pay moving forward.
The settlement also included attorney fees and court costs and ends about 3.5 years of litigation.
City Attorney Kin Sayre elaborate more on the agreement.
“For new hires to the department since the lawsuit was filed, who are not plaintiffs, will be compensated back to their date of hire,” he said in the press release. “Both sides were motivated to take care of the newer recruits.
“The city never intended to improperly pay any of our firefighters. Cities across West Virginia have interpreted the Legislature’s holiday pay statute differently, and the city needed to ensure that it not only protected the city’s firefighters but also the city’s taxpayers. We believe this amicable settlement fulfills both goals.”
In August, the state Supreme Court granted a motion to dismiss an appeal by the city in the case.
It had appealed Circuit Judge Laura Faircloth's ruling that professional firefighters needed to be paid holiday pay based on their actual work shift of 24 hours. Faircloth already had held two hearings on the matter and issued her decision before the city appealed. Her ruling also matched how Charleston applies its holiday pay and how other cities statewide apply their holiday pay.
The state's holiday pay statute applies to all professional firefighters in the state.
Several other cities have been involved in litigation regarding the statute in West Virginia, including Morgantown, Parkersburg and Huntington. Other cities have resolved their issues without litigation.
"Upon consideration and review, the court is of the opinion to, and does, grant the motion to dismiss," the Supreme Court said in the order.