Jeannette’s two police dog handlers claim in a federal lawsuit that the city violated labor laws by not paying them an overtime rate for time spent caring for their canines.
Sgt. Jim Phillips and Officer Matthew Painter said in the filing that they spend at least 30 to 60 minutes, often more, of uncompensated time daily taking care of the animals. Painter has a Dutch shepherd named Kilo and Phillips works with a Belgian malinois named Diesel.
Caring for the dogs was a necessary part of the police officers’ jobs, the lawsuit said.
The two officers said they should be paid an overtime rate for the time they spent caring for the dogs outside of their regular working hours. There was no dollar amount mentioned in the suit but they said they had been in their positions for the last three years. The suit was filed last month.
It didn’t reveal what the officers are paid or what the overtime rate would be for each officer. City officials wouldn’t immediately release the salary information but TribLive has filed a right-to-know request seeking the officer’s pay rates.
The city must submit a response by Aug. 19, according to court filings. Jeannette’s solicitor Tim Witt declined to comment on it.
“The city is dismayed by this lawsuit and its likely impact on the city and its taxpayers and residents,” he said.
Both officers regularly hold fundraisers in the community to offset costs of equipment and training for the dogs. Donations fully funded a new SUV outfitted for police dog use that hit the streets in 2021. That vehicle is used by Phillips.
Donations were put toward the purchase of a used SUV last year for Painter. Both of the dogs have been on the job.
Renatta Signorini is a TribLive reporter covering breaking news, crime, courts and Jeannette. She has been working at the Trib since 2005. She can be reached at rsignorini@triblive.com.
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