Philadelphia class action lawsuit overview:
- Who: Plaintiff Joseph O’Reilly filed a class action lawsuit against the city of Philadelphia.
- Why: Philadelphia fails to pay K9 officers for their time spent caring for police dogs in their homes, which the plaintiff says amounts to more than two hours of unpaid overtime each day.
- Where: The lawsuit was filed in Pennsylvania federal court.
A Philadelphia police officer filed a class action lawsuit against the city, claiming K9 officers are not paid for their time spent caring for and training their police dogs in violation of federal, state and local laws.
Plaintiff Joseph O’Reilly filed the class action lawsuit on behalf of himself and other Philadelphia K9 officers who are allegedly not paid for the time they spend caring for and training their police dogs outside their regularly scheduled shifts.
O’Reilly says Philadelphia K9 officers are expected to walk and exercise their police dogs several times per day, feed them twice per day and arrange veterinary care, training and grooming for the dogs.
“Because the K9 Partners reside with their assigned officer, the care for the K9 Partner occurs every day — before and after an officer’s shift, on days that the officer is not working and on holidays,” the Philadelphia class action lawsuit says.
Federal overtime laws entitle non-exempt workers to overtime pay of 1.5 times their regular rate of pay for any time worked in excess of 40 hours in a given workweek, the lawsuit explains.
Other K9 officers paid overtime for home care, plaintiff says
O’Reilly notes the sheriff’s department pays its K9 officers approximately two hours of overtime per day for the same work the Philadelphia K9 officers perform to care for and train their police dogs. He claims the Philadelphia K9 officers employed by the Philadelphia airport are similarly paid two hours of overtime each day to care for their K9 partners at home.
O’Reilly claims he spends approximately two hours and 20 minutes caring for his K9 partner each day without pay. On his days off, he says he spends even more time exercising, feeding and grooming the dog and cleaning his vehicle and home of “dog debris.”
The Philadelphia class action lawsuit asserts claims for violations of the federal Fair Labor Standards Act, the Pennsylvania Minimum Wage Act, the Pennsylvania Wage Payment and Collection Law and Pennsylvania common law.
O’Reilly seeks to recover unpaid overtime compensation, liquidated damages, unlawfully withheld wages, statutory penalties and damages allegedly owed to himself and putative class members.
A Pennsylvania federal jury recently determined the owners of certain Pennsylvania nursing homes were guilty of falsifying records and defrauding the government.
Do you think Philadelphia K9 officers are entitled to overtime pay for the off-clock time they spend caring for and training their police dogs? Join the discussion in the comments.
O’Reilly is represented by Ian M. Bryson of Derek Smith Law Group PLLC.
The Philadelphia K9 officers class action lawsuit is Joseph O’Reilly v. City of Philadelphia, Case No. 2:23-cv-05188, in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.
Don’t Miss Out!
Check out our list of Class Action Lawsuits and Class Action Settlements you may qualify to join!
Read About More Class Action Lawsuits & Class Action Settlements:
7 thoughts onPhiladelphia fails to pay K9 officers for home care, class action lawsuit alleges
I’m a TSA supervisor and I know for a fact that they stay and work that hour, so stop lying and ratting on people about not staying the hour they should be working. You’ve never worked in the TSA program and have no knowledge of how our program works.
Please add me
The Philadelphia airport K9 handlers only get an hour overtime and they have to work that hour, so O’Reilly isn’t telling the full truth in this article.
They do not work that hour. We have family members who are K9 handlers at the airport. I also know the supervisors at the airport who confirmed they do not stay that hour. If they did stay that hour, then they are in violation of the FLSA because it is for at home care. Nice try though
I’m a TSA supervisor and I know for a fact that they stay and work that hour, so stop lying and ratting on people about not staying the hour they should be working. You’ve never worked in the TSA program and have no knowledge of how our program works.
Joe Buster, I am not an attorney but, is that hour to take care of your dog? If so, after you take care of your dog “at work” and you put him in your car and take him home and walk him, groom him, clean your home because of him, and do all these things on your days off (like feeding, walking, etc..) “at home”, than you might want to contact an attorney. They are compensating you “at work” but not for all the things you do “at home”. If you look up the FLSA you will see it says “at home care”. Our attorney is named in the lawsuit if you want to contact him. It has nothing to do with “ratting”, it has to do with following the FLSA laws. Google K9 compensation cases for “at home” care.
This is actually my second lawsuit because the city refuses to pay us like the Philadelphia Police Airport Unit K9 handlers. They get 1 hour a day to care for their canines and also the sheriffs receive OT too