A class action lawsuit has been filed against the city for allegedly denying bus drivers overtime pay. The lawsuit was filed in US District Court for the District of New Mexico and claims the city of Santa Fe denied overtime wages to city bus drivers to which they are entitled under the provision of the Federal Labor Standards Act.
Full time employees argue that the owed overtime wages are a result of thousands of changes made to their punch-in and punch-out times dating back months, if not years. Time Management Systems, Inc., a city contractor, documented approximately 11,000 adjustments to the hours city bus drivers worked over a three-month sample from March to June of 2007. The class action will allow similarly situated city employee to be paid for the time they've worked, meaning that many non-transit employees might also be eligible for recovery of lost wages.