Settlement Rejected
The Hardeman County Commissioners rejected the $2.999 million offer by the plantiffs in the Patrick Perry, et al and two other cases versus Hardeman County duing the Hardeman County Commission meeting on March 21.
Brought by Hardeman County Sheriff’s Department Investigator Perry in May of 2019 and subsequently joined by more than 85 other dispatchers, corrections officers, and deputies, the suit alleges violations of Fair Labor Standards Act in failure to pay overtime properly and failure to compute benefits. The plantiffs seek damages for overtime violations, liquidated damages, failure to pay accrued benefits (comp time, vacation and holiday hours) at the end of employment, and the payment of plantiff’s attorney fees.
Two more lawsuits were brought in June of 2021, alleging pushback for the original suit, saying the county and mayor retaliated against the plantiffs for asking that their FLSA rights be considered.
Presenting the settlement offer was Rob Binkley of Rainey, Kizer, Reviere, and Bell. Binkley said that plantiff attorney William Sessions had indicated he would accept $2.9 million in attorney fees if a settlement was reached.
The final vote to pass the settlement failed even as it had a majority of commissioners vote yes, at 8-7. Prior to the vote, County Attorney Dale Conder informed the commission approval would require a majority of all serving commissioners, or nine votes.
It was, prior to the vote, estimated by attorney Steve Hale that to try the case would cost an extra two million dollars.
Binkley, Hale, and Conder all alluded that if taken to trial, a loss for the county was the most likely outcome.
Hardeman County Mayor Todd Pulse reacted emotionally to the rejection.
“This should have been settled three or four years ago,” he said. “I hope you can live with this for breaking our county.”
Another motion brought by Commissioner John Vickers and seconded by Johnny Lanier was to reject the settlement, fire the existing attorneys, and bring back Amber Shaw of Covington to the case. This failed 11-4.
The final vote saw new commissioners elected in 2022 vote 5-1 to accept the settlement with only Brad Grantham voting no. Also voting no to the settlement were Mark Gilliam, Bobby Hensley, Johnny Lanier, Jackie Sain, John Vickers, and Johnny Weems.