In the case of Kleppe v. Fort Dodge Police Department, former police officer Troy Kleppe filed a wage claim lawsuit against the Fort Dodge Police Department and the city of Fort Doge (the “City”). Kleppe claimed that he was owed overtime pay for his work as a police canine handler and trainer.
Kleppe worked for the Fort Dodge Police Department. His employment was covered by a Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) between the City and the Public Professional and Maintenance Employees Local Union. Kleppe discussed his unpaid wages with his union representative and filed a grievance that claimed the City failed to pay him overtime wages for training the police dog. However, the City denied the grievance as untimely and informed Kleppe of the CBA provision, which allowed 12 hours of flex time per month for canine handlers. Instead of appealing the denial as per the CBA, Kleppe decided to sue the City for unpaid wages under the Iowa Code chapter 91A.
The City argued that Kleppe’s grievance was untimely and he had not followed the proper grievance procedure that was outlined in the CBA. The district court agreed with the City and granted summary judgment in their favor. The court determined that Kleppe should have exhausted his administrative remedies before pursuing a separate action.
Kleppe tried to appeal this summary judgment by arguing that his claim did not fall under the CBA but rather under the Iowa Wage Payment Collection Act. However, the court found that Kleppe’s claim was directly related to the CBA. The court affirmed the grant of summary judgment to the City.
Key lessons from this case:
- An employee must follow proper procedures when pursuing an unpaid overtime wage claim.
- Pay attention to any flex time arrangements or provisions in a CBA that may impact how overtime is calculated and compensated for an employee.
- It is important to note that a CBA may require an employee to follow certain administrative procedures in resolving disputes before seeking legal action.
If you want to know more about overtime regulations, read our guide on Iowa Overtime Laws.
