A new class-action lawsuit charges that J.P. Morgan Chase & Co., in violation of federal overtime pay laws, had a common practice of misclassifying its loan underwriters as exempt. The suit alleges that the workers were unlawfully denied overtime pay.
Filed by law firm Lieff Cabraser Hiemann & Bernstein LLP in the U.S. District Court in New York, the suit says Chase reclassified its underwriters to nonexempt status in February 2009, but failed to provide them backpay for the overtime hours they had worked while classified as exempt.
A federal appellate court recently ruled against Chase on the issue of whether Chase underwriters are exempt from federal overtime laws, according to a statement from Lieff Cabraser Hiemann & Bernstein.
‘This lawsuit seeks fair compensation for the underwriters employed by Chase who tirelessly worked late nights and long weekends processing loans, which helped fuel Chase's success in the mortgage sector,’ says the plaintiff's counsel, Kelly M. Dermody.
Chase employs roughly 500-1,000 underwriters nationwide, the lawsuit states.
SOURCE: Lieff Cabraser Hiemann & Bernstein LLP