Fla. Dept. Tangled in Firefighter Pay Lawsuit
Source The Reporter, Tavernier, Fla.
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Sept. 23--A former Key Largo firefighter, who is suing the fire department and the area's emergency services district, hired an attorney who was recommended by the lawyer who represents the district's ambulance service.
That attorney, Jack Bridges, said he intends to collect a 25-percent referral fee if the firefighter, Corey Freeman, wins his case. Bridges says there is no conflict in his referring Freeman to an attorney or in taking a referral fee. He said it's standard procedure for attorneys to get a fee if they refer a client to another lawyer who takes a case.
But the situation isn't sitting well with the five commissioners of the Key Largo Fire-Rescue and Emergency Medical Services District.
"It may be ethical per the Florida Bar Association's standards, but not by human standards," Commissioner Jennifer Miller said in an interview this week.
Miller and her colleagues voted Monday to cut funds that the Key Largo Ambulance Corps gets to pay Bridges from $500 to $1.
Bridges said Wednesday that he thinks the commissioners don't understand the reason why he feels there is no conflict in referring Freeman to an attorney and asking for a referral fee.
Bridges said he represents the Ambulance Corps only, not the fire department or the taxing district, which funds both departments. He said it would not be unethical for him to represent Freeman himself in a suit against the fire department.
He said he didn't take Freeman's case because he doesn't practice law in federal court.
"It's really a non-issue," Bridges said.
Commissioners had already slashed the $5,000 for the ambulance corps attorney at a budget hearing earlier this month. They referred to the example of attorney Andy Tobin, who represents the fire department for free.
Freeman, 23, is suing the volunteer fire department and the Key Largo Fire-Rescue and Emergency Services District because he said he should have been paid minimum wage and overtime for his seven years of service.
His attorney, Tom Woods of Tavernier, said the department's reimbursement policy is at the heart of his client's case. Firefighters, in general, get around $5 an hour, which Chief Sergio Garcia said is meant to reimburse members for meals and fuel to get to the fire station.
But Woods said since the department has three full-time firefighters who earn about $18 an hour, reimbursement should only be about $3.60 -- or about 20 percent of what the paid members earn. Since the department was paying the equivalent of $5 an hour, it crossed a "nominal line," Woods said, that makes firefighters eligible for the $7.25-minimum wage and overtime.
Woods filed the lawsuit in the U.S. District Court-Southern District of Florida in December 2010. Freeman was dismissed from the department months later, which he said was retaliation for the lawsuit.
Bridges said Freeman came to him and asked him if he thought he had a case against the department. Bridges said he was not the one who told Freeman that he was eligible for back pay.
"He had that idea in his head," Bridges said.
Woods also said he doesn't understand why commissioners are critical of Bridges for the referral.
"It's pretty common throughout the industry," Woods said. Woods shares an office with Bridges but the two are not business partners, they said.
Freeman is suing the fire department and emergency services district for back pay, overtime and legal bills. He said he is owed more than $20,000 in pay and $8,149 in overtime. With legal fees, the lawsuit could cost taxpayers over $100,000, Woods said this summer when he re-filed the lawsuit after the court made him amend the complaint.
The taxing district hired Miami attorney Dale Morgado in the case. It set aside $35,000 to pay Morgado.
Since the taxing district stopped reimbursing the Ambulance Corps for attorney fees, it's not clear if Bridges will get paid. Ronald Fell, the president of the Ambulance Corps did ' board of directors, did not return an email asking for comment on the matter.
Bridges, who has represented the Ambulance Corps since 2004, said he still intends on getting paid by his clients.
"The Ambulance Corps has been a good client for a long time. I don't mind doing pro bono work, but this is my job," he said.
