A search for a Jason Martin lawsuit turns up three unrelated federal cases. The most prominent is Tartt v. Martin, a civil rights suit against McDowell County, West Virginia sheriff’s deputy Dalton T. Martin, which settled in July 2024. A second is an FLSA overtime case brought by former Upper Captiva, Florida Fire Chief Jason Martin against his own fire district, which settled by May 2025. The third is a 2013 federal sentencing of Jason Bryan Martin of Helena, Montana for theft of government property tied to fraudulent GI Bill benefits. The sections below explain which is which and how each ended.
Tartt v. Martin: The McDowell County Civil Rights Suit
On August 7, 2020, McDowell County deputies Dalton Martin and Jordan Horn were investigating suspected marijuana plants growing near an abandoned church on Baptist Drive, about 50 feet from the home of Donnie and Ventriss Hairston. According to the complaint, the deputies accused the Hairstons of cultivating the plants, were “belligerent and disrespectful,” and one deputy shoved Donnie Hairston through his own doorway after he began recording the encounter.1WVVA. Two McDowell County Deputies Face Federal Lawsuit
Jason B. Tartt, a former Military Policeman and the landowner, arrived after his tenants alerted him. He gave the deputies his name but declined to give his date of birth, and was arrested for obstruction of a law enforcement officer. The obstruction charge was later dismissed when the arresting officer failed to appear in court.2Yahoo News. McDowell County Deputies Facing Federal Lawsuit
What the Lawsuit Alleged
In August 2022, Tartt and the Hairstons filed a five-count civil rights suit in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia, naming Deputies Martin and Horn, Chief Deputy James “Boomer” Muncy, and the McDowell County Commission. The plaintiffs, all African American, alleged racial profiling, false arrest, malicious prosecution, unreasonable search and seizure, First Amendment retaliation, and a civil rights conspiracy. They sought compensatory and punitive damages, attorney fees, and a jury trial.3CourtListener. Tartt v. Martin, Case No. 1:22-cv-003274WVNSTV. Federal Lawsuit Filed Against Two McDowell County Deputies
The Summary Judgment Ruling
On June 25, 2024, Senior U.S. District Judge David A. Faber granted the defendants’ motion for summary judgment in part and denied it in part. The Hairstons’ Fourth and First Amendment claims were dismissed, and both Chief Deputy Muncy and the McDowell County Commission were removed from the case.3CourtListener. Tartt v. Martin, Case No. 1:22-cv-00327
Tartt’s core claims survived. Judge Faber allowed his Fourth Amendment false arrest claim, his First Amendment retaliation claim, and a conspiracy claim under 42 U.S.C. ยง 1985 to proceed to trial, and denied qualified immunity on the false arrest claim. The court noted evidence that Deputy Martin’s sworn affidavit to the magistrate said Tartt had refused to identify himself while omitting that Tartt had in fact provided his name. Deputy Horn testified in his deposition that he had not seen Tartt commit any crime and that there was no information tying Tartt to the marijuana plants.5CaseMine. Tartt v. Martin, Civil Action 1:22-00327
How the Case Ended
With the surviving claims headed for trial, the parties settled. A notice of settlement was filed on July 29, 2024, and the court placed the case on its inactive docket the same day. The settlement amount and terms were not disclosed on the public docket. The last docket entry was recorded on October 28, 2024, and the case is closed.3CourtListener. Tartt v. Martin, Case No. 1:22-cv-00327
Martin v. Upper Captiva Fire District: The Overtime Case
A different Jason Martin, the former Fire Chief of the Upper Captiva Fire Protection and Rescue Service District on North Captiva Island, Florida, sued his own agency under the Fair Labor Standards Act for unpaid overtime. He filed suit on May 31, 2023, in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida, Fort Myers Division (Case No. 2:23-cv-00388).6Firefighter Overtime. FL FD FLSA Suit
The district is small. It logged 186 calls in 2022 and employs only two full-time first responders, the Chief and the Assistant Chief, plus part-time firefighters, and must staff each 24-hour shift with a minimum of four firefighters year-round to maintain its insurance rating. Martin’s contract set his salary against a 40-hour workweek, but his actual schedule required 24-hour on-duty shifts, typically two days on and two days off. Overtime was paid only for specific emergency situations rather than all hours over 40. His biweekly salary ran from about $2,971 in 2020 to roughly $3,079 from 2021 through 2022.7Upper Captiva Fire Protection & Rescue Service District. Plaintiffs Motion for Partial Summary Judgment
The Legal Question
The dispute turned on whether Martin was overtime-exempt. The district argued he fit the FLSA’s administrative, executive, and managerial exemptions. Martin argued that although he held the title of Chief, he spent roughly two-thirds of his working hours performing hands-on firefighter and paramedic duties as part of the required minimum staffing, and therefore fell under the FLSA’s “first responder” regulation, which bars classifying police, firefighters, and paramedics as exempt merely because they hold supervisory rank or a higher salary. In April 2024, Martin moved for partial summary judgment on the exemption question and on the district’s laches defense.7Upper Captiva Fire Protection & Rescue Service District. Plaintiffs Motion for Partial Summary Judgment
The district had faced the same theory before. In late 2021, Assistant Chief Craig Denison filed a nearly identical FLSA claim, which the district settled in April 2022 for full payment of unpaid overtime plus liquidated damages and attorney’s fees.6Firefighter Overtime. FL FD FLSA Suit
How the Case Ended
Martin’s case also settled. The district’s document archive shows a fully executed settlement agreement in Martin v. UCFRD was produced for the board’s May 16, 2025 regular meeting, along with a stipulation of voluntary dismissal with prejudice. The dollar amount of Martin’s settlement has not been publicly disclosed in the available records.8Upper Captiva Fire Protection & Rescue Service District. Document Archive
Jason Bryan Martin: Montana GI Bill Fraud Sentencing
The third matter is a criminal case, not a lawsuit in the civil sense. Jason Bryan Martin of Helena, Montana was sentenced on March 18, 2013 by U.S. District Judge Sam E. Haddon in Great Falls after pleading guilty to theft of government property.
Martin, 29 at sentencing, had received an “Other than Honorable” discharge from the military in September 2005. He then purchased and forged fictitious DD-214 forms showing an Honorable discharge, used them to re-enlist in the Montana Army National Guard in December 2006, and applied for Montgomery GI Bill educational benefits he was not entitled to receive. Between January 2007 and May 2009 he collected more than $10,000 in benefits fraudulently. Judge Haddon sentenced him to 12 months in federal prison, three years of supervised release, restitution of $10,051.46, and a $100 special assessment. The Department of Veterans Affairs Office of Inspector General investigated the case, and Assistant U.S. Attorney Bryan R. Whittaker prosecuted it.9U.S. Department of Justice. Jason Bryan Martin Sentenced in U.S. District Court