A former Trigg County deputy sheriff is suing the county and Sheriff Aaron Acree in federal court alleging he is owed overtime pay he never received.
Former deputy David Tomlinson filed the lawsuit in the Paducah Division of U.S. Federal Court last week. According to the suit, which represents just one side of the issue, Tomlinson served as K-9 handler for the Trigg County Sheriff’s Office from March 1, 2019, to September 1, 2020.
Tomlinson said in the lawsuit that he took the police K-9 home each day and should be compensated for the dog’s at-home training, grooming, feeding, and exercising as well as the time Tomlinson spent cleaning the K-9 pen and his overall care. The complaint said the unpaid overtime amounted to 546 hours and violated the Fair Labor Standards Act.
The suit went on to say that Tomlinson met with former Sheriff Jason Barnes on two separate occasions about receiving the overtime pay but was never compensated for the overtime pay.
Tomlinson was not retained when Aaron Acree was appointed Sheriff on September 1 following the resignation of Barnes. Neither was the K-9.
The lawsuit names both the Trigg County Fiscal Court and Sheriff Aaron Acree as defendants. It does not name Barnes as a defendant.
Tomlinson is asking for the court to award him the unpaid overtime compensation, liquidated damages, and attorney’s fees. While the suit did not list a dollar amount, the amount of unpaid overtime likely ranges between $9,000 and $15,000.
