HOUSTON — Some of Wells Fargo’s home mortgage consultants could be sharing in a recent $15 million overtime settlement. Six combined lawsuits claim Wells Fargo and the companies that preceded Wells Fargo, like Wachovia, which merged with Wells Fargo, failed to pay the home mortgage consultants the overtime they were due. The six Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) cases were initially filed separately against Wells Fargo, but they were later combined to form a multidistrict litigation in Texas federal court. The current settlement is seeking final court approval at the urging of two of six original plaintiffs. The four remaining lawsuits will likely be broken up and sent back to their original courts if the court approves the settlement.
The settlement would dismiss the claims “with prejudice.” This means that the plaintiffs cannot bring another FLSA claim against Wells Fargo for the same failed overtime. The settlement also excludes individuals who took part in an earlier settlement in California. However, there are still roughly 4,500 current and former home mortgage consultants who are eligible to take part in this settlement. Both sides are seeking settlement because it appears that going to trial would be very costly and drawn out. The two cases in the settlement represent Wells Fargo home mortgage consultants who originated residential mortgage loans and former Wachovia officers, who worked for the bank prior to the 2008 merger.
Home mortgage consultants, sometimes called mortgage brokers, are usually licensed professionals. They are trained to educated people about home mortgages, help determine which mortgage suits their needs, and originate mortgages. Some home mortgage consultants receive a commission for each mortgage they originate. Receiving commissions can occasionally lead employers to misclassify their employees and deny them proper overtime pay.
Commissioned employees are usually paid a lower base salary than most with the assumption that they will be motivated to work harder and make more sales or originate and close more mortgages to earn higher commissions. Because commissions can greatly increase an employee’s income, the FLSA does allow employers to classify them as “exempt” from overtime pay. But the guidelines for “exempt” classification are very specific for commissioned employees and, in many cases the commissioned employee does not meet the requirements. This means the employee is still entitled to overtime.
Determining if your employer has denied you overtime can be complicated; as can determining if you are eligible to join class actions currently in progress. If you are a home mortgage consultant and believe you may have an overtime claim, contact our experienced team of overtime pay lawyers today at (855) 754-2795 to discuss your situation. Or complete the Free Unpaid Overtime Case Review form on the top right of this page and our experienced legal team will evaluate your case. If we accept your case, we will represent you under our No Fee Promise. This means there are no legal fees or costs unless you receive a settlement.