Dear COBA Members/Retirees;

COBA previously advised that the County sent to numerous active and retired members a cover letter and agreement concerning overtime claims for years 2018 to 2020. The legal claim referred to in this letter was not started by COBA and is completely different from the FLSA lawsuit COBA sponsored regarding the delay of overtime payments that has been ongoing for some time.

In their letter, the County included a form stating that the County will pay you what appears to be relatively nominal amounts, depending on the individual, (in some cases $20 dollars, in others up to $300 dollars before taxes) in exchange for a waiver of your legal rights against the County for that same time period for any other overtime claims. Again, we sent this mailing to our labor counsel and attorneys handling our separate and much larger FLSA litigation against the County, to ask their advice concerning this County offer.

Our attorneys advised that while our members have the right to sign the agreement and submit it, the agreement has language that can negatively impact the larger FLSA litigation our union has against the County.

While it is your right to sign and return the County's agreement, both our labor attorneys and our FLSA Attorneys caution that by signing it, you could be waiving your claim in our much larger FLSA case. The amounts in the agreements in this letter appear to be relatively nominal but accepting it would impact the potential for you to receive more money for those years in the much larger and still pending litigation 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