A dollar...
Posted on 01/08/2019 7:03:41 AM PST by COBOL2Java
A Washington attorney has made good on her pledge to file a class action lawsuit against the federal government over the current government shutdown.
Heidi Burakiewicz, a partner at Kalijarvi, Chuzi, Newman and Fitch, filed the lawsuit Monday afternoon in the U.S. Court of Federal Claims. It seeks back pay — including overtime — and liquidated damages for exempted employees forced to work without pay.
Burakiewicz, who filed Monday’s action in conjunction with the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE), won a similar suit for 25,000 employees in the 2013 shutdown.
Judge Patricia Elaine Campbell-Smith, then chief judge, sided with the plaintiffs. A consultant, Burakiewicz said, is still calculating the damages — equal to twice the pay for the shutdown period. She said because of the precedent from the 2013 case, she is confident the court will again decide in favor of the plaintiffs.
At issue is whether the government is violating the Depression-era Fair Labor Practices Act. In the 2013 case, the judge ruled the government had. At the time, the Obama administration sought to have the case dismissed outright. But the court awarded liquidated, or double, damages because it was found to have knowingly violated the FLPA.
In an interview Monday, Burakiewicz said her real aim is not so much getting cash for her clients as it is forcing the government to fully reopen.
Two plaintiffs named in this afternoon’s suit are Justin Tarovisky and Grayson Sharp, both Bureau of Prisons employees and members of the AFGE union. Burakiewicz said she is particularly sensitive to BOP employees, whom, she said, are working in understaffed, dangerous situations to start with.
Burakiewicz said her law firm would be posting information on how other excepted federal employees can join. She said she was prepared to add all of the estimated 400,000 of them, if necessary.
>>Too bad it doesn’t work that way. The jobs don’t magically disappear.<<
They are positions. Theoretically a position can remain unfilled absent budget. Later they can be liquidated.
Have you worked in the Federal government?
No. They’re fired. By inaction by Congress who holds the purse strings.
That's not how it works.
That'll get a lot of the DoD workers really riled at the ones who make these demands and bring these suits.
The employees of 78% of the government (is that figure correct?) are not being asked to work without pay. If the agency is funded, the employees are getting paid.
All of this BS for a MEASLY $5.7 Billion (to save our country BTW) out of roughly $4.4 TRILLION!!!!!! The leftists are absolutely INSANE. It’s all about hating the President because Clinton lost.
Well then there is a national emergency because it seems the HOR won’t appropriate a dime.
A dollar...
Take the cost of defending the suit out of their back pay. It’s already law that they get reimbursed.
No, it's not the law. Reimbursement has to come from an act of Congress, after the shut down has ended. Up to now, that has happened - so what people think is "the law" is merely a coincidence. But it's not guaranteed. And, Trump would have to sign it.
That was my thought too. I've been laid off many times when I worked heavy equipment construction. It just goes with that type of work. Lay these gov workers off then when the shutdown is over with; only hire back those who are really needed. This is a good way to get rid of a lot of the dead weight.
The government should run more like a business and less like a free ride with crazy bennies and guaranteed employment. No one outside of government has that; not even Union members although some are close.
But it’s not a guarantee.
True but if they don’t pay the troops they can expect law suits form every employee organization and union. Not to mention lots of damage to equipment, computers, and who knows what all.
And never forget that the single largest employer in the United States is the federal government. Remember also that the federal government doesn’t produce a damned thing that generates revenue. Every dime it spends is taken from Americans who have virtually no say in how the money is spent.
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