Maryland to pay correctional officers $13 million in unpaid wages, settlement follows WJZ wage theft investigation
BALTIMORE - Maryland approved a landmark settlement of more than $13 million dollars for correctional workers who say the state cheated them out of pay.
It follows WJZ's investigation in collaboration with the CBS News Innovation Lab into workers being shortchanged nationwide.
The settlement impacts 3,874 current and former correctional officers.
"The settlement second-largest wage theft settlement for correctional officers in United States' history," said Patrick Moran, the president of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, the union representing the workers.
The state's spending board authorized paying the multi-million-dollar settlement to the officers after a federal Department of Labor investigation confirmed they were shortchanged.
"The federal government found that thousands of dedicated and hardworking employees were underpaid for hours of work they performed at the department, and we not only owe them this long overdue back pay, frankly we owe them an apology," said Governor Wes Moore at the meeting of the state's spending board Wednesday.
The officers alleged that for years, they were paid for scheduled time only even if they worked more than those hours. They also said overtime was rounded off so they never got the extra minutes it took to get to and leave their posts.
"We punched in and it's called a ledger, and they said there's a grace period of 15 minutes at the beginning in 15 minutes at the end, and the state refused to compensate us for the actual hours that we actually worked," Sgt. Dorian Johnson, president of Baltimore City corrections union, told WJZ Investigator Mike Hellgren in January.
"I have to pick up a second job, something that will get me the money quick or I have to call and explain to the people I owe money to—my mortgage company—and say, 'Oh, my job messed my check up again.' Or explain to the bank could you waive this overdraft," Officer Brittany Cocart told us for our initial investigation.
Ayodele Okunoren, an officer at the Maryland Correctional Institution for Women in Jessup, told WJZ he first noticed he was not getting paid for overtime in July 2017.
"iI's not like we're just working for free. We showed up. We did our job," Officer Okunoren told Hellgren.
Their union blames the Hogan Administration and is still demanding managers be held accountable.
Governor Moore said the investigation into wage theft is ongoing, and there could be more payouts in the future.
"I also commit that we have taken and will continue to take the actions that will make sure that this never happens again," the governor said.
The settlement approved Wednesday covers a three-year period.
WJZ continue to stay on the story as the federal wage theft investigation remains open.
Our reporting in conjunction with the CBS News Innovation Lab found there have been more than 8,000 wage theft claims to the Maryland Department of Labor since 2009, costing employees more than $20 million.
The Maryland Department of Labor has 15 investigators and supervisors who work on wage claims.
One-third of them are bilingual in English and Spanish.
They handle complaints at no cost to you and said more than half are resolved in less than 60 days.
"After investigation, the Commissioner has the authority to issue a "final order" to compel the employer to pay any wages that are due. But 90% of the claims are resolved by the Employment Standards unit of the Department of Labor without having to issue a final order,"
the department told WJZ.
Employment Standards has a call center at 410-767-2357 and anyone can talk to an investigator, have their questions answered and receive instruction on how to properly file a complaint.
