500 Federal Employees Sue Government

500 federal employees, mostly from the Bureau of Prisons, have joined a lawsuit against the government. The suit contends that withholding of pay under the recent government shutdown violated the Fair Labor Standards Act. GovExec reports, employees from other agencies are also starting to join the suit, coordinated by a D.C. law firm. Plaintiffs are trying to get damages of $7.25 for each hour they worked in the first week of October. Separately, the Washington Post reports the Merit Systems Protection Board is overwhelmed with 32,000 cases of federal employees claiming they were unfairly furloughed.