A federal judge has tossed out a putative class action seeking $6 million in damages and fees over allegations that the Fulton County Sheriff's Department cheated its employees of overtime, vacation and holiday pay in violation of the county's pay policies.

The complaint originally named Fulton County, Sheriff Ted Jackson and the individual members of the Board of Commissioners as defendants, and was filed on behalf of a class of more than 500 current and former employees that included deputy sheriffs, custodial officers, clerks and administrative employees.

Styled Cunningham et al. v. Fulton County, the lawsuit included claims that the department violated the Fair Labor Standards Act and breached the employees' contracts by “rolling over” their accrued and unused vacation time, holiday leave and compensatory time into the category of sick leave, for which they are not paid when they leave the county or retire.

“Plaintiffs that have either retired or left the employment of the county have been forced to forfeit thousands of hours of accumulated overtime, vacation, holiday and compensatory time that the county has rolled over into a category labeled sick time before they left the county,” it said.

The complaint said the plaintiffs had suffered or stood to lose more than $4 million in damages.

The plaintiffs voluntarily dismissed the county commissioners as defendants in 2017, and Senior Judge Richard Story of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia subsequently ruled that Jackson enjoyed official immunity because he was “acting as an 'arm of the state' when exercising his power in the sheriff's office to make compensation decisions.”

That left only the county as a defendant, and Story simultaneously dismissed the FLSA claims  because the plaintiffs were not county employees but worked for the sheriff.

The case was reassigned to Judge Michael Brown, who dismissed the breach of contract claims on March 29.

Ruling on cross motions for summary judgment, Brown said the “plaintiffs seek $6 million in damages, attorneys' fees, and revisions to the county's personnel policies.”

“Plaintiffs argue that the county has breached its policies governing holiday pay, vacation leave, sick leave, and compensatory time,” Brown wrote. “Upon examination, however, plaintiffs either misunderstand or are dissatisfied with the County's policies. Plaintiffs even admit that the county has not violated any of its policies, procedures, or [standard operating procedures].”

Brown also said there was no basis for claims that unwritten procedures were used to deny the employees all of their earned time.

“Plaintiffs also allege in the second amended complaint that the county uses 'unwritten personnel policies and practices to deprive employees of compensatory time, vacation benefits, overtime pay, holiday pay and sick time earned,'” Brown wrote.

“At summary judgment, plaintiffs produced no evidence of these allegedly unwritten policies and, in fact, did not even discuss any specific policy in their pleadings,” he said.

Brown also ordered plaintiffs attorney Clifford Hardwick and two plaintiffs who repeatedly failed to show up for noticed depositions to share the costs, county's attorney fees and court reporter fees for the missed appointments.

Hardwick, an Alpharetta solo, said in an email that he had not yet discussed the ruling with his clients and could not comment.

Fulton County Attorney Patrise Perkins-Hooker said, “We are satisfied with the result and are pleased that the court made a decision based on the facts and applicable law.”

The county enlisted the help of a half-dozen outside attorneys to defend the case, including Carmen Davis, Raquel Crump and Jamala McFadden of The Employment Law Solution: McFadden Davis, and Sumaya Ellard, Ernest Greer, Mellori Lumpkin-Dawson, Janna Nugent and Natasha Wilson from Greenberg Traurig.

Asked whether the county would seek to recoup its costs, Perkins-Hooker said they will ask for fees, “but generally the courts will not award them to a governmental entity in these types of cases.”

On the same day Brown's order was filed in Cunningham, he also delivered good news to Gwinnett County and more bad news to Hardwick.

Brown dismissed a complaint against several Gwinnett police officers accused of manhandling and using a stun gun against a woman involved in a dispute with a tenant she wanted to evict.

Charlotte Moore refused to let police in when they showed up at a house she rented to investigate claims she had seized tenant's belongings. The officers forced their way in and, alarmed when she moved to grab an object on a table, shot her with a Taser. Moore was accused of kicking and attacking the officers and was shocked several more times before being arrested for obstruction.

Police were again called to her house by another tenant she was trying to evict the following year. After a dispute with officers, one procured an arrest warrant but she was not arrested. Hardwick filed suit on Moore's behalf asserting Fourth Amendment claims including for false arrest and excessive force.   

Brown said the evidence could not support the claims and that, even if true, could not survive the officers' defense of qualified immunity.

Hardwick did not address Moore's case in his message.

The case was defended by Gwinnett Law Department attorney Tuwanda Williams. Neither she nor acting county attorney Mike Ludwiczak responded to requests for comment.