Corpus Christi (KIII News) — In 2017 current and former employees with the city's wastewater department filed a lawsuit against the city claiming the city should have provided extra compensation for years of working in an "on call" capacity.
Now retired Juan Garza worked for 27 years for the city's wastewater department.
"I got to stay; I got to work cause I'm on call," Garza said.
According to Garza, every four or five weeks employees would work ten days straight being on call.
"On call for an emergency coming in," Garza said. "You can't do nothing with your family can't go out of town, if you want to have fun spend time with friends. "Can't do that got to stay there and respond to an emergency call."
One of the attorney's in the case is Daniel Covich.
"These men and women were on a leash for this on call, and they were not compensated for it by the city's written policy they're entitled to this pay," Covich said.
The lawsuit can prove it happened for the past three years but that some employees had not been paid for over ten years.
"From what we've seen other employees hourly workers from other departments were getting on-call pay and for whatever reason, these workers were not," Covich said.
After the lawsuit was filed in April 2017, the wastewater department held a meeting for employees saying they would start paying on-call pay.
"They had made a mistake," Covich said.
Like many others, Garza expresses his frustration and want for money that belongs to him.
"Even though they don't call you to an emergency they still got to pay you," Garza said. "We're not asking for anything else. Just do get what belonged to us, all that time we worked."
Because the case is in litigation, the city cannot comment on the lawsuit.
Any former or current employees with the city's wastewater department that fit the hourly category have until July 5 to join the lawsuit.
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