Morgantown Fire Department truck
CHARLESTON – The state Supreme Court has refused a writ of prohibition filed by the City of Morgantown, meaning more than 50 current and former city firefighters will receive compensation for previously unpaid holiday work.
The Supreme Court’s June 18 order also means the city likely will have to pay millions to the firefighters, attorneys on both sides of the case and a special commissioner who will determine the compensation owed to each firefighter.
Toriseva
“The fight for fair wages for professional firefighters in Morgantown just gained more traction,” said attorney Teresa Toriseva, whose firm has represented numerous firefighters and law enforcement officers in similar lawsuits over the last several years. “This ruling honors West Virginia wage law and ends the latest delay in this years long litigation, which can now proceed to final resolution in Monongalia County circuit court.”
The lawsuit originally was filed in June 2019 in Monongalia Circuit Court. More than 50 Morgantown firefighters who are members of IAFF Local filed a three-count complaint against the city seeking unpaid holiday compensation and alleging the city “never properly compensated” firefighters for holiday work.
For years, according to the complaint, Morgantown paid firefighters working 24‑hour shifts with only 12–16 hours of holiday leave instead of the full 24 hours they worked, even though state code requires either equal time off or time‑and‑a‑half pay for legal holidays.
In February 2020, the city adopted an ordinance granting firefighters who work 56-hour weeks 24 hours of paid leave for each legal holiday in calendar year 2020, aligning with a full 24‑hour shift. The resolution did not compensate for past underpaid holidays.
In September 2021, former Circuit Court Judge Philip Gaujot enters an order granting summary judgment in part to the city. The firefighters file an objection and a motion asking the judge to alter or amend the summary judgment order, which also is denied in February 2022.
The firefighters then appealed to the state Supreme Court. The case is argued in September 2023, and the court affirms some of Gaujot’s ruling and reverses some of it in November 2023. The case is remanded back to Monongalia County “to reconsider the firefighters’ claims.”
In February 2025, Monongalia Circuit Judge Michael Simms, who now is handling the case following Gaujot’s retirement, signs an order consistent with the Supreme Court’s opinion to grant summary judgment for the city reaffirming the city lawfully chose time off rather than premium pay and did not negligently fail to pay statutory holiday premiums. It also grants summary judgment for the firefighters on holding that holiday compensation is a fringe benefit and thus a “wage” under the state Wage Payment and Collection Act, meaning current firefighters receive extra time off convertible to cash wages at separation, and retirees receive the cash equivalent of vacation pay at separation. It also issues declaratory judgment that for 24‑hour shifts, firefighters are entitled to holiday time off equal to the actual hours worked on a holiday, or that would have been worked when a holiday falls on a regular day off.
It also holds that the five‑year statute of limitations applies, rejecting laches, and sets the recoverable period from five years prior to the date of filing of the complaint through February 17, 2020. It also orders that currently employed plaintiffs who can show under‑credited holiday leave between June 11, 2014, and February 17, 2020, are entitled to additional leave time or money and that the plaintiffs no longer employed by the city must receive the cash equivalent of vacation pay due at the time of separation for that same period.
Simms’ order appoints former Judge Russell Clawges Jr. as Special Commissioner at $350/hour to determine each plaintiff’s entitlement to compensation, orders the parties to provide him all relevant materials, and directs that he file a report or status report within 90 days and every 90 days thereafter. It also orders the city to pay the costs of the special commissioner’s work.
The city challenged Simms’ order asking him to re-tie the claim period to the court’s earlier February 9, 2022, judgment date rather than ending it at February 17, 2020, as well as rescind summary judgment for all plaintiffs regarding holiday compensation being a wage and rescind the order requiring the city to pay the special commissioner’s costs.
In April 2025, Simms holds oral arguments on that challenge. In August, he issued an order denying the city’s motion. In September, the city went back to the Supreme Court to file a writ of prohibition challenging Simms’ handling of the remand and claim period.
That led to this week’s order refusing the writ, saying the Supreme Court is “of the opinion that a rule should not be awarded, and the writ prayed for by the petitioner is refused.”
Chief Justice Haley Bunn said she would have set the matter for argument. The order was at 4:30 p.m. Thursday, and it was filed in Monongalia Circuit Court 13 minutes later.
The firefighters are being represented by Toriseva and Joshua Miller of Toriseva Law in Wheeling. The city is being represented by Ryan Simonton of Kay Casto & Chaney.
West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals case number 25-586 (Monongalia Circuit Court case number 19-C-167)
