A correction was added to this story: The original story said state law required sergeants pay be 15% above base pay, it is actually 25% above base pay.
A group of Abbeville police officers has filed a lawsuit against the city alleging the city has not followed the state's minimum salary laws.
The lawsuit was filed Dec. 1 at the Vermilion Parish Courthouse on behalf of all senior ranking officers of the Abbeville Police Department except Chief of Police Mike Hardy. They argue that the city of Abbeville is ignoring stipulations for minimum pay requirements for officers ranked higher than patrolmen, the lawsuit said.
Hardy declined to comment.
The lawsuit stems from a 2019 state law that allowed Abbeville to provide raises to police officers funded through additional sales tax if approved by voters.
Abbeville residents voted in favor of the sales tax and police starting salaries for patrolmen were raised to $40,000 in 2023.
Stipulations in La. R.S. 33:2212(F) sets minimum payments for officers for municipalities with a population between 12,000 and 250,000. Base rank patrolmen in Abbeville will be paid, at minimum, $766.80 a month. Abbeville pays much higher than the minimum.
Higher ranks are guaranteed a salary at a certain percentage higher than the base $40,000 salary. A sergeant must be paid no less than 25% above base pay and a lieutenant must make at least 50% above base pay.
The law also requires a 2% raise after three years of service and a requires a 2% raise for each additional year, the lawsuit says.
The lawsuit names 11 officers: Sergeants Timothy Bourque, Jeremy Deville, Brittany Hebert, Tracy Sonnier, Randall Nugier, and Rodney Vincent and Lieutenants Chris Hardy, Lester Luquette, Eugene Rougeaux, Scott Roberson and Robert Riggs.
Of the officers, all lieutenants other than Scott Roberson at an annual salary of $54,015 and Robert Riggs at $53,551; they should be paid at least $60,000, according to the suit. All sergeants make under the requirements.
However, the senior officers are below where they should be if they had received the mandatory 2% yearly increases, the suit claims.
"Since the starting salary of a starting officer changed in 2023, the senior officers...have not received a pay increase in accordance with the pay scheduled outline in La. R.S. 33.2213(F)," the lawsuit reads.
Pay concerns were brought to Abbeville Mayor Roslyn White on Oct 24. They asked her and the city council to pay the senior officers what they are owed, the lawsuit said.
"(The) demand was discussed in Executive Session between the Mayor and City Council, wherein the Council vote to reject (the senior officers) demands," the lawsuit reads.
"In December 2022, in an effort to better recruit and retain officers and decrease turnover, we gave generous, equitable raises of $13,340 to all officers in the department. This lawsuit was filed in response to that raise," White said in a brief statement. She declined to comment further on pending litigation.
Christian Landry and Daniel Landry III of the Landry Law Firm in Lafayette are representing the senior officers in the lawsuit. The law firm did not respond in time for publication.
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