Ward and Smith recently helped secure a decisive legal victory for Cleveland County in a long-running wage dispute brought by a collective of emergency medical services (EMS) workers.
The case, Conner v. Cleveland County Emergency Medical Services, was recently highlighted by Law360.
On March 31, 2025, U.S. District Judge Martin Reidinger granted summary judgment in favor of the county on a class-action breach of contract claim. The Court also ruled that although there was a technical violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), the plaintiffs were not entitled to any damages.
The lawsuit, filed in 2018, alleged that Cleveland County Emergency Medical Services had underpaid workers by using a method for calculating compensation (or “pay plan”) that, the plaintiff claimed, conflicted with the county’s code of ordinances. The plaintiff claimed that those ordinances were the contract governing her employment, and the Court had certified a class of all similarly situated employees. However, on the County’s motion for summary judgment, the Court concluded that the pay plan and the ordinances were “easily… read in harmony,” and that the plaintiff and other County employees had accepted their pay structure with that understanding.
The Court likewise awarded a group of plaintiffs no damages in connection with their FLSA claim. The Court concluded that the plaintiffs were underpaid during certain pay periods. Even so, it reasoned that, because they were overpaid during other periods, each plaintiff ultimately had received the full compensation they were owed.
Ward and Smith attorneys Christopher S. Edwards, Grant B. Osborne, and W. Ellis Boyle represented Cleveland County, along with co-counsel Timothy K. Moore and Martha Raymond Thompson.
In an interview with Law360, Grant Osborne, speaking on behalf of the county, emphasized that Cleveland County "uniformly and zealously maintained" that its pay practices were in line with its agreements with the workers. He added, "The county will continue to advocate for the interests of county taxpayers as long as necessary."
You can read the full article, titled "EMS Workers Get Nothing In Wage Suit Against NC County," here, behind the paywall.
