Ex-South Miami cop sues city for not paying him time it took getting dressed for work

A former Florida police officer wants the city to pay him the time it took him to get dressed for work.

Michael Weissberg, the former South Miami Police Department sergeant, filed a lawsuit against the city in October claiming he should be paid overtime wages for the hours it took putting on and taking off his uniform, The Miami Herald reported.

Weissberg claims that he was "required to work approximately 30 minutes off-the-clock" prior to his shift officially starting, the report said. The time amounted to about 5-10 hours overtime each week or more than $17,000, he claims. These tasks reportedly included maintaining his weapon and his police car.

The city, for its part, said it will fight the lawsuit, the report said.

"These are items that are normally considered to be something an officer does on their own time. The city, for instance, allows a police officer to take their car home as part of their contract," Mayor Phillip Stoddard told the paper. "The city provides them with uniforms as part of their contract. But there is a certain set of maintenance items that are expected that the officers will do themselves."

Weissberg, who became a police officer in 1997, told the Miami Herald that it would be impossible for a police office to arrive for work at 2 p.m. for a 2 p.m. roll call, and he should be compensated for the time. The city has since hired a labor attorney because the case can have "far-reaching consequences."