Cops May Join Lawsuit For Overtime Remainder Of City’s Uniformed Officers Could Unite With Six Who Allege Pay Violations

Before it’s over, nearly 260 Spokane police officers could join a lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court claiming the city has violated state and federal overtime pay standards.

Only six officers’ names appear on the suit filed earlier this week, but almost all of the city’s uniformed officers could jump aboard, said their attorney, Christopher Vick of Renton, Wash. “We’re right in the beginning of this.”

Vick said he isn’t sure what dollar impact a court victory would have on taxpayers, but he gave a “wild guess” it would be less than $500,000.

City Attorney James Sloane said he can’t comment on the case because he hasn’t seen the lawsuit.

The suit names as plaintiffs Spokane Police Guild President Russell A. Cox and five past or current members of the department’s canine unit - officers Ronald G. Erickson, Jerry Poindexter, John C. Stanley, Charles D. Reisenauer and Thomas M. Stanton.

The suit alleges that officers in the canine unit haven’t been paid adequately for time spent “actively caring for their dogs” when they’re off-duty, Vick said.

“From the time they put the dog into the car until they take them out of service, they’re working,” Vick said.

Earlier this year, the city and the canine unit agreed to changes in the way the officers are paid, said Gary Persons, the city’s personnel director.

Instead of caring for the dogs after work, the officers do so during their shift. They also receive a monthly stipend for the specialty work.

The suit also claims the city isn’t following state and federal standards when it compensates officers throughout the department for overtime.

The disagreement centers on when the officers should be paid at base pay or specialty pay for overtime work. Officers who serve as field trainers or on the SWAT team are paid at a higher rate than base pay.

The officers also want all compensatory time to be given at time and a half.

Persons said that while he hasn’t seen the case, he knows of the “basic disagreements.” “Without reading it, I can’t say much,” he said.

He added that he and the officers have discussed the issue for years. The city reviewed federal standards, and it was paying the officers according to the law, he said.

Police spokesman Dick Cottam said Chief Terry Mangan described the situation as a “difference of opinion between the canine officers and the city’s personnel department.”

The chief, who was out of town Thursday, also told Cottam the pay question will “not be an issue in the future” because of recent labor agreements.

The officers are demanding unpaid overtime pay going back at least two years, damages, and attorney fees and court costs.