Collins v. District of Columbia

Submit Consent to Join & Release Form

Frequently Asked Questions

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BASIC INFORMATION

The lawsuit entitled Jason Collins v. The District of Columbia, Civil Action No. 1:21-cv-02941-CJN has settled, and these FAQs include important information regarding that settlement, including (1) how to join the lawsuit to receive your money; (2) how you will receive your money; and (3) what joining this lawsuit means.
This lawsuit involves the District's alleged failure to properly calculate the overtime rate to include the $14 per diem hazardous duty pay as required by the FLSA during the period between March 16, 2020 and July 25, 2020. By settling the lawsuit, the District is not admitting to any FLSA violations.
In an FLSA collective action lawsuit, one or more people (in this case Plaintiff Jason Collins) initiates a suit on behalf of other people who they believe have similar claims. The people who join the case all together are known as a "Collective" or "Collective Members." The employee who sued—and all the Collective Members like him—are called the Plaintiffs. The entity sued (in this case, the District of Columbia) is called the Defendant.
In this case, the parties have agreed to settle as a FLSA Collective, which requires you join the FLSA collective and become a party to the lawsuit to receive your settlement funds. The District of Columbia will be providing a Settlement Award to everyone who worked overtime for the Fire and Emergency Medical Services Department between March 16, 2020 and July 25, 2020 and received the $14 per diem hazardous duty pay and joins the lawsuit. If you sign the Consent to Join FLSA Lawsuit and Settlement Acceptance and Approval Form, you will have opted into the FLSA Collective and agreed to be bound by the terms of the Settlement. Essentially this means that you agree not to sue the District for any FLSA claims related to the $14 hazardous pay per diem.
The Consent to Join FLSA Lawsuit and Settlement Acceptance and Approval Form is available to be signed at the interactive portal, at FEMSSettlement@cptgroup.com. The Interactive portal also allows you to (1) update your address and contact information; and (2) elect to receive the Liquidated Damages portion of your settlement award by check or digital means. You received login information for the Portal in the communication sent to you September 19, 2025. If you have any problems logging in, you may contact us at 202-470-3520.
By signing the consent form, you are (1) joining the above-captioned lawsuit as a plaintiff; (2) designating Migliaccio & Rathod LLP as counsel and (3) agreeing to release the District from all claims brought in the above-captioned lawsuit regarding the alleged failure to include within the overtime rate, from March 16, 2020 to July 25, 2020, a $14 per diem hazardous duty pay as required by the FLSA.

THE SETTLEMENT

Under the settlement, the District will pay $334,806.36. This total amount will be divided as follows: (i) $234,806.36 will be eligible to be distributed to you and the other current or former District employees of FEMS covered by the settlement who join the lawsuit and settlement; (ii) $95,000 will be paid to Migliaccio & Rathod, LLP for attorney's fees and litigation costs representing you and the 1,591 other District employees, including the costs paid to a third-party Settlement Administer for the costs of administering the settlement; and (iii) a "service award" of $5,000 for Jason Collins, which will be distributed in recognition of his efforts in acting as class representative in the lawsuit and obtaining a recovery for you and the other current or former District employees.
Under the Settlement, each current and former District employee of FEMS covered by the case is eligible to receive a payment based on the overtime hours they worked between March 16, 2020 and July 25, 2020. The payment will include at least 90.5% of wages allegedly owed under the formula for regular rate calculations as outlined by the Fair Labor Standards Act, as well as an equal amount (at least 90.5% of wages owed) in liquidated damages. The formula used essentially adds the $14 dollars to your regular rate of pay and then recalculates the required overtime wage. The money provided by this lawsuit is the difference between the overtime wages determined by this formula and what you were paid as overtime during the relevant time period. The more overtime you worked between March 16, 2020 and July 25, 2020, the more your Settlement Award will be.
50% of the payment made to each Collective Member is allocated to wages ("Backpay") and is subject to tax withholding. The other 50% of this payment is allocated to damages and non-wage recovery ("Liquidated Damages"). If you join the lawsuit and receive these funds, you will receive a W-2 for the Backpay portion and a 1099 for the Liquidated Damages portion. You are solely responsible for any and all additional federal, state and local taxes that may be due from this payment. We recommend you contact a tax attorney if you have any questions.
Jason Collins, as the Representative Plaintiff, will receive a $5,000 service award for his work in bringing this case on behalf of current and former District employees of FEMS.

CLAIMING SETTLEMENT FUNDS

First, you must sign the required consent and release form as described above. YOU WILL NOT RECEIVE ANY FUNDS IF YOU DO NOT SIGN THE REQUIRED FORM TO JOIN THE LAWSUIT, which you must do by October 24, 2025.
If you signed the form, you will receive two separate payments of equal amounts, and you should receive both approximately four months after joining the lawsuit. The first payment will represent your wages (Backpay). The second represents the Liquidated Damages. The District will issue Backpay payments to current employees according to its payroll system and by check to its former employees. For both current and former employees, your Liquidated Damages payment will be paid by the CPT Group. You will have an opportunity on the interactive portal to elect whether you would prefer to receive this payment by check or digital means.
You will receive an IRS Form W-2 from the District for the Backpay portion of the settlement. As Backpay will be issued in 2026, tax documents reflecting this will be issued in 2027. An IRS Form 1099 for the Liquidated Damages will be sent to you from the CPT Group. Current employees can expect to receive their 1099 via email. Former employees will receive their 1099 by mail. You can expect to receive your 1099s around the same time as your Liquidated Damages. You will need these documents for tax purposes.
If you are a current employee who receives a paycheck through the District's payroll system, your address should not affect distribution. If you are a former employee or a current employee who receives checks by mail and you have any reason to think the District does not have your current address on file, you should change your address at the interactive portal as described above.
If the District does not have your correct address, you might not receive important notices and you might not receive your share of the Settlement Funds.
No. It is against the law for any employer, including the District of Columbia, to fire, discipline, or retaliate against you in any manner for taking part in this case. Defendant may not take any action against you for accepting the Settlement Award.

YOUR RELEASE OF CLAIMS

In the Collins v. District of Columbia, all of the following claims are included in the term Released Claims:
All wage and hour claims asserted in the Lawsuit for failure to include the $14 per diem payment in the regular rate of pay for purposes of FLSA overtime (29 U.S.C. § 201 et seq) for the period from March 16, 2020, through the Effective Date.
Essentially, this means if you participate in the settlement, you will not be able to separately sue the District to recover additional money or benefits for FLSA claims related to the $14 per diem hazardous pay that was available to FEMS employees from March 16 to July 25, 2020. Your heirs, agents, assigns, or any one acting on your behalf is also prohibited from bringing suit arising out of the Released Claims.
These claims shall be released as to the District of Columbia, its present or former officers, directors, employees, agents, attorneys, accountants, administrators, personal representatives, and assigns, and any or all of them and all persons acting by, through, under, or in concert with any of them. The release shall include all the above claims through the Effective Date. Essentially, the effective date means up to the present. Technically, the Effective Date is 14 days after Migliaccio & Rathod, LLP files the consent to join and release forms with the Court.
You may choose not to sign the consent and release form and not join the lawsuit. If you choose not to sign, you will not receive any money and you will not release any claims.
You may contact the attorneys for the parties:
Plaintiffs and the Collective Members are represented by:
Jason S. Rathod, Esq. Nicholas A. Migliaccio, Esq. MIGLIACCIO & RATHOD LLP 412 H St., NE Washington, DC 20002 (202) 470-3520 (Tel.) (202) 800-2730 (Fax) jrathod@classlawdc.com nmigliaccio@classlawdc.com
The District of Columbia is represented by:
Helen M. Rave Assistant Attorney General Office of the Attorney General for the District of Columbia Civil Litigation Division 400 Sixth Street, N.W., Suite 10100 Washington, D.C. 20001 (202) 735-7520 Helen.Rave@dc.gov
No. Plaintiff's Counsel will be paid from the maximum settlement amount described above. You do not have to pay the attorneys any additional funds. The parties have agreed to $95,0000 for attorney's fees and litigation costs for representing you and the 1,591 other District employees. This amount includes the costs to a third-party Settlement Administer for the costs of administering the settlement.

CHOOSING NOT TO JOIN THE LAWSUIT

Yes. If you do not wish to join the lawsuit and participate in the Settlement, you simply do not sign the consent and release forms.

GETTING MORE INFORMATION

Yes. This notice contains a summary of the Settlement. For more detailed information, you may review the settlement agreement by requesting a copy from the attorneys for either party. If you believe that you need more details in order to make a decision, you can locate more information as described below:
Yes, you may EXAMINE THE COURT'S FILE in the clerk's office at the United States District Court for the District of Columbia, 333 Constitution Avenue N.W. Washington D.C. 20001.
Yes, for more complete details, or if you want to review the Settlement Agreement, you may WRITE to, EMAIL or TELEPHONE the Collective Counsel:
Jason S. Rathod, Esq. Nicholas A. Migliaccio, Esq. MIGLIACCIO & RATHOD LLP 412 H St., NE Washington, DC 20002 (202) 470-3520 (Tel.) (202) 800-2730 (Fax) jrathod@classlawdc.com nmigliaccio@classlawdc.com
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