Real Stories: King v. State
Douglas King
King v. State
Nebraska
For years, state troopers like Douglas King were working overtime and not getting paid for it. Failing to compensate hourly workers for overtime is a direct violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA).
King and over 200 Nebraska state troopers brought suit under the FLSA for $6 million to compensate for 44,000 hours of unpaid overtime. The state offered the troopers compensatory time off instead of overtime wages, denying them the substantial funds they were entitled to under the FLSA.
The state denied the employees adequate compensation due to the Supreme Court's decision in Alden v. Maine, in which the Court held that state employees cannot recover money damages for violations of the FLSA. Thus, under this new rule, states can violate the federal labor laws without consequences.
