Between May 2014 and August 2018, plaintiffs Christopher Gaffney, Andre Jerome Soto, John O’Leary, Guido Quartaroli and Jeff Provancher, firefighters for the city of Santa Clara, were allegedly not paid the correct overtime rate. Gaffney, Soto, O’Leary, Quartaroli and Provancher, representing a class of similarly-situated firefighter employees, sued the city of Santa Clara. They alleged that the city’s actions constituted violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act. Plaintiffs’ counsel contended that the city failed to include the value of unused medical benefits and specialty pay, such as hazardous duty, in calculating overtime pay. Counsel asserted that the “regular rate of pay” used in overtime pay calculation included all compensation with certain exceptions, such as gifts, and that the 2016 case of Flores v. City of San Gabriel established that medical benefits are part of the “regular rate of pay,” and must be included in calculating overtime. Plaintiffs’ counsel also contended that the city failed to update its payroll system at that time and did not do so until 2018. Defense counsel initially denied the plaintiffs’ allegations, and claimed the class was exempt from overtime pay., Gaffney, Soto, O’Leary, Quartaroli and Provancher, acting individually and on behalf of the class of firefighter employees, sought recovery of unpaid compensation.