Wed, 03/03/2021
On February 26, 2021, counsel for a class of Wells Fargo “Home Mortgage Consultants” filed a motion to approve a class settlement with the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California for $95,696,122.35.
Once approved, the nearly-100-million-dollar settlement will resolve a series of related cases that began in 2017, when two former Wells Fargo Home Mortgage Consultants filed suit alleging improperly calculated wages. The two employees were permitted to represent a class including other Home Mortgage Consultants employed by Wells Fargo from March 13, 2013, through August 1, 2017 asserting a single claim of rest break violations under California Labor Code § 226.7. As litigation continued, counsel for plaintiffs filed two additional lawsuits, alleging a parallel violation on behalf of Wells Fargo Home Mortgage Consultants employed after the close of the class period in the first case, August 1, 2017.
The trio of lawsuits alleged that Wells Fargo failed to properly calculate the lawful hourly rate for its Home Mortgage Consultants, in violation of California law. The bank had been paying the Home Mortgage Consultants based on commissions, rather than a standard hourly rate or salary, and as a result, it had not been separately compensating the Home Mortgage Consultants for their non-working rest period time at the appropriate hourly rate, as required by California law.
This case serves as an important reminder that even large, sophisticated corporations like Wells Fargo can commit wage and hour violations on a sweepingly broad scale. In this case, luckily, several of the wronged employees came forward and contacted attorneys capable of fixing the problem.
For more information on MSE’s recovery of back pay and other damages for workers whose overtime was improperly calculated, visit https://www.mselaborlaw.com/practice-areas/wrong-overtime-rate-and-miscalculation. If you think you have been paid overtime at the incorrect rate of pay, do not hesitate to contact us via email at info@mselaborlaw.com or by clicking the Contact Us button.
