Email correspondence between an employee and the state government constitutes a written contract for purposes of waiving sovereign immunity in breach-of-contract claims filed by state employees, the Georgia Court of Appeals has ruled, reviving a complaint seeking $5 million in back pay on behalf of 400 state troopers.

A photo of Jeffrey Peil sitting at a table. Jeffrey F. Peil of Huggins Peil. Courtesy photo

Jeffrey Peil of Huggins Peil, John Batson, John Czura and McCracken Poston represented Richard Justice, the lead plaintiff-appellant in the suit. Justice argued that the Georgia Department of Public Safety, or DPS, failed to pay overtime under provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act, or FLSA, as they'd been agreed to via email when he was hired.