Beginning in the mid-1990s, first responders and public safety officials in Dallas began filing lawsuits claiming they were owed raises under a decades-old law that gave significant raises to police officers and firefighters. Now, more than 1,500 workers are involved in the Texas unpaid wages lawsuit. However, the city of Dallas argues that the 1979 pay referendum is being misinterpreted and that Dallas has sovereign immunity from such suits. In recent years, Dallas has filed counter-lawsuits against those initiating litigation – a move that some unpaid wage lawyers believe waives their rights to sovereign immunity.
While public service workers think the 1979 referendum granted police and firefighters raises whenever the City Council gave raises to related workers, the city of Dallas argued that the referendum simply granted first responders a one-time 15 percent pay increase.
Although the Dallas police officers and Dallas firefighters could ultimately bankrupt the city they work for by going through with this unpaid wages lawsuit, they also put forth that they want to continue to do their jobs and protect Dallas residents. Some just want some sort of financial boost – not the full amount that they believe they are owed.