MOKENA, IL — Eight current and former Mokena police sergeants are seeking more than $5 million in unpaid overtime that dates back 10 years and that is costing the village and local taxpayers an estimated $30,000 per month in interest alone, according to a lawsuit that was recently filed.
The suit, which was filed on Sunday, is an amended complaint to two previous lawsuits that have been filed against the village seeking back pay. The former officers, who are not represented by a union like the village’s patrol officers are, are seeking wages that they claim are owed to them pursuant to the Federal Fair Labor Standards Act as well as Illinois fair wages standards.
The newest amendment adds about seven years to the complaint after the initial lawsuits were seeking a total of three years in damages, the Mokena officers’ attorney told Patch.
“As far as we know, this has been their policy forever,” Patrick Walsh, a Chicago-based attorney who represents firefighters and police officers around Northern Illinois, told Patch in regard to the complaint against the village of Mokena.
The $5 million in damages consists of unpaid overtime, accrued statutory interest, and statutory penalties such as “treble” or triple damages, Walsh said.
A TOP police officer has been reported to a policing watchdog for making “false and inflammatory statements” about Palestine marches. The Palestine Coalition, an umbrella group which organises dem...