Thu, 02/18/2021
In February 2021, fifty-one FCI Mendota correctional workers and 137 FCI Herlong correctional workers filed Complaints against the United States to recover hazardous duty pay, environmental differential pay, and backpay for overtime wages that were incorrectly calculated, after having been required to work on a daily basis in the hazardous work environment caused by the global pandemic.
The Bureau of Prisons has not provided sufficient protective equipment, nor measures to practically eliminate the risk of exposure to COVID-19, nor has it compensated the correctional officers who work at the facility for their increased risk of contracting the virus. To date, at least 60 inmates and at least 30 staff members at FCI Mendota have been confirmed to have been infected with COVID-19. At least 260 inmates and at least 20 staff members at FCI Herlong have been confirmed to have been infected with COVID-19.
Lead attorney for both cases and MSE partner Molly Elkin said, “The United States has regulations in place that require it to pay hazardous duty pay when federal workers are exposed to virulent biologicals in the work place. Coronavirus that causes COVID-19 is a virulent biological. The correctional workers are exposed every shift to inmates and surfaces containing COVID-19. They are literally locked inside the prison with this deadly virus each and every shift.”
When asked about the inherently dangerous nature of the job, Ms. Elkin explained that, “Hazard pay is meant for certain hazards that were not considered in classifying the position. The coronavirus did not exist and was not taken into account when these positions were classified. Yes, these brave workers signed up for a dangerous job. They signed up for the dangers that they can see and mitigate using their law enforcement judgment. But nothing in the prison, or in their training, can protect them against the hazards caused by the silent, invisible and deadly Coronavirus. The least the Government can do is follow its own regulations and pay these front-line workers the hazardous duty pay to which they are entitled.”
Aaron McGlothin, President of AFGE Local 1237, the FCI Mendota Plaintiffs’ Union, said that he sought out legal counsel “to right this wrong and to ensure that the workers are paid in accordance with the law during these unprecedented times.”
Kyle Barker, President of AFGE Local 1217, the FCI Herlong Plaintiffs’ Union, said: “The Agency has failed to provide adequate precautions to protect employees from being exposed on a daily basis to the novel coronavirus. Staff at FCI Herlong deserve to be compensated for being thrust into situations that are far outside their control and for which the law provides protection.”
These lawsuits seek to recover monetary damages plus interest for failure to provide hazard pay and environmental differential pay, and backpay and liquidated damages for the plaintiffs’ FLSA regular rate violations, and attorneys’ fees.
If you think you have been wrongfully denied hazard pay in your federal workplace, contact us now at info@mselaborlaw.com.
Additional coverage of the FCI Mendota lawsuit can be found by clicking the graphics below:
