Colorado Department of Corrections sued again for alleged employment violations

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) -- Two years after settling a lawsuit about not properly paying employees for overtime work, the Colorado Department of Corrections is back in the courtroom over the same issue.

In November 2022, William Hastings filed a lawsuit against the Colorado Department of Corrections (DOC). As a criminal investigator in Florence, he claimed he wasn’t properly paid for overtime work.

According to his lawsuit complaint, Hastings worked nearly 90-hour weeks throughout 2021. While on call, he received $2.00 per hour. His attorney, Andrew Swan, said that’s a violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938.

“(DOC employees) were unable to do their own pursuits — going out to dinner with a spouse, taking any sort of trip to the mall or to Walgreens,” Swan said. “Our position is that they should be paid the regular rate and if applicable, their overtime rate of one and a half times.”

Swan questions why the Department of Corrections is even in this position. Two years earlier, he represented two other DOC employees that sued for the same reason.

In that 2020 lawsuit, Steve Ruiz and Adam Morehead said they were not paid for overtime work as parole officers. Like Hastings, the two claimed they sometimes worked 80 to 90-hour weeks but were only paid $2.00 an hour when they were on call.

“Their patience is running thin because it just doesn't appear that the Department of Corrections values their time,” Swan said.

After two years of litigation, the lawsuit was settled for $5 million of taxpayer money. Right around the same time, Hastings filed his lawsuit with the same allegations.

The Colorado Attorney General’s Office represents the DOC for both lawsuits. As Hasting’s lawsuit continues through the court, the AG’s Office hired Littler Mendelson, an outside law firm, to help with litigation.

“It baffles me that the state is taking such an aggressive defensive posture here when clearly there is liability,” Swan said. “But until a settlement is reached or a trial is had, the state will rack up taxpayer funds to defend this defenseless case.”

13 Investigates reached out to the DOC and the Attorney General’s Office, but we haven’t heard back.

Right around the time one employment violation lawsuit ended and the other began, 13 Investigates ran a special report about Department of Correction employees being overworked.

The story centered around Matthew Beauman, who died in a car accident after falling asleep at the wheel on his way home to Colorado Springs after his shift at the Limon Correctional Facility in February 2022. His family said his long hours of 12 to 16-hour days contributed to the accident.

“They're becoming fatigued,” Swan said. “They're being distracted from their families and their hobbies and their friends.”

Department of Corrections vacancy and overtime numbers show a cycle of low staffing and high workload.

Data obtained by 13 Investigates show that in June 2021 across all of their facilities, CDOC employees worked 63,603 overtime hours. Then six months later in January 2022, that number jumped to 77,191 hours. By September 2022, CDOC employees worked 85,209 overtime hours.

This coincides with a large number of vacancies. In late June 2021, across all 29 DOC facilities, the total DOC employee vacancy number sat at 476. At the time, there were 80 open corrections officer positions in the state of Colorado.

One year later, there were 1,192 job vacancies throughout the prison system in Colorado and 468 open corrections officer job positions. That's an increase of 585% for corrections officer openings.

“They're talking to those who already do work there and they're hearing the truth — that is the DOC isn't paying us legally,” Swan said. “They don't value our time. Don't come work here, and they don't.”

To break the cycle, Swan said the state needs to start complying with federal employment laws.

“These folks really are running ragged,” he said. “They're expected to put in huge amounts of time doing stressful, oftentimes dangerous activities. It's our position that the state needs to pay them pursuant to the law for that time.”