By Tyler Juranovich
Kokomo Tribune, Ind.
KOKOMO, Ind. — A settlement has been reached in the federal class action lawsuit between the Howard County Sheriff’s Office and a corrections officer over alleged unpaid wages.
The county will pay $400,000, according to court documents, to settle the claim out of court that the Sheriff’s Office was unlawfully not paying corrections officers for overtime and all time worked.
The settlement was preliminarily approved to allow for those affected to be notified. The settlement still needs that formal approval from the judge. A hearing to determine if the settlement is “fair, reasonable and adequate” is scheduled for March 4 in Indianapolis.
Per court documents, one-third of the settlement — $133,333.33 — will go to the law firms of The Law Office of Robert J. Hunt and Hassler Kondras Miller LLP for attorney fees; $10,000 to Kelly Partlow for being the lead plaintiff; $9,839.56 to reimbursement and administrative costs, leaving $246,827.11 for the remaining members of the class action lawsuit.
Those in the class-action lawsuit will be paid based on how many weeks they worked in the period of July 2020 to the date the settlement is formally approved.
If approved, the settlement will bring an end to the class action lawsuit originally filed in July of 2022.
At the crux of the lawsuit, filed by Partlow, was the department’s mandatory 15-minute work meetings, called “roll call” in the lawsuit.
Partlow, in the lawsuit, alleged she and her fellow employees were not paid for the 15-minute meeting despite the fact they are required to attend the meeting, to be clocked in and in full work attire.
In addition, Partlow alleges the Sheriff’s Office rounding system is not neutral and unlawful.
The county denied any wrongdoing. Per the settlement, the Sheriff’s Office and county are not admitting any guilt in settling out of court.
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