TULSA---Two former employees say they feel like they've been betrayed and assaulted by the City of Tulsa.
In an exclusive, 2 Works For You found out why they're suing their former employer, and why they hope more will come forward.
Calvin Williams and Thomas Hunter have worked in the city's water and sewer department for decades.
They say they've never been in any kind of trouble and had never been written up. Now they say their nest eggs are gone along with their reputations.
"To ask me how I feel, the first word that comes to mind was I was crushed," said Williams.
Williams and Hunter thought they'd hit paydirt when they got jobs with the city decades ago.
"You really had to know somebody to get here; back in those days it was the luck of the draw to get into the City of Tulsa," said Hunter.
It all came crashing down last month when they both received notice of "pre-termination hearings."
Hunter received his day after he retired.
"My first day of retirement was June 1st, on the evening of June 2nd, security shows up saying I'd been terminated," said Hunter.
Williams got his the same day with the same allegations.
Directors said they failed to file proper paperwork for hundreds of hours of leave time dating all the way back to 2009.
"Anything we worked over 40, we would usually bank that time or I would notify my supervisor at the time that I"m going to take a few hours off the following Friday or whatever and that's commonly known as comp time," said Williams.
Williams and Hunter say it was common practice to take comp time and most people didn't keep a record; just a heads up to their superiors.
"This is what we were told to do. So I"m doing what I'm told, but yet, I'm accused of stealing, which is completely ridiculous," said Williams.
Hunter could now lose his unused vacation and sick days, totaling 21-thousand dollars.
Williams has more than 600-thousand dollars in benefits at stake.
And the worst part? They were told they have no right to appeal.
"You have no way to fight back," said Hunter.
Before Williams and Hunter could even try to appeal their cases, their attorneys will meet with the city's Civil Service Commission to argue that the cases deserve to be heard.
That will happen in July.
So far, the City of Tulsa is not commenting on the lawsuits.
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