Dear COBA Members/Retirees;

The US Dept of Labor conducted an investigation into "back wage issues" in the Sheriffs Department for the years 2018 through 2020. This was apparently due to a complaint filed by an as of now unknown complainant.

We are aware that the US Dept of Labor Wage and Hour Division's Philadelphia office sent a memo to numerous active and retired COBA members along with a form agreement and online instructions on how to recoup lost wage claims for those years, (2018 to 2020). These lost wages, as reported to the Union, after taxes, appear to be amounts ranging from $30 to $80 dollars.

In that memo it states that you will be able to claim those lost wages in exchange for a waiver of your legal rights against the County in any other FLSA matter. We sent this mailing to our labor counsel and attorneys handling our major FLSA "overtime" litigation against the County, to ask their advice concerning this US Dept of Labor mailing.

They informed us that you have the right to sign the agreement and send it in, if that is what you want. However, you should know that this agreement has language that can negatively impact our much larger FLSA litigation pending against the County.

Specifically, the agreement indicates that for 2018 through 2020 you would waive any other claims in exchange for that money. Again, the DOL created that document, but our attorneys believe the language in that agreement could be used to waive your right to continue your claim in the class action FLSA litigation we have against the County for those same years.

While it is your right to sign and return this agreement, our labor counsel and FLSA attorneys caution you that if you sign it, you could be waiving your claim in our much larger FLSA case. The amounts in the agreements in this letter appear to be nominal but signing that agreement would negatively impact the potential for you to receive more money for those years in the much larger case we have against the County.

Again, it is your choice to sign or not to sign. We want to ensure that you know your rights and what you are waiving if you do so.

Please contact us if you have any questions.  

Brian Sullivan, COBA President

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