California Federal Judge Awards Wells Fargo Home Mortgage Consultants $97 Million in Rest Break Lawsuit

Posted on May 16th, 2018 at 4:54 PM
California Federal Judge Awards Wells Fargo Home Mortgage Consultants $97 Million in Rest Break Lawsuit

From the Desk of Jim Eccleston at Eccleston Law LLC:

A California federal judge has awarded $97.28 million to a class of 4,481 California-area Wells Fargo & Company home mortgage consultants for the company’s failure to pay them for rest breaks.

According to the class-action complaint, from March 17, 2013, to August 1, 2017, Wells Fargo failed to pay its mortgage consultants for meal and rest breaks and also failed to pay them for time spent attending events, galas and open houses.

Wells Fargo responded to the allegations against them by arguing that it should owe an amount significantly less than what the plaintiffs requested in their complaint because California labor code’s rate of compensation only applies to workers’ hourly rate. Additionally, Wells Fargo claimed that only hourly workers should be considered as plaintiffs in the underlying matter because otherwise the calculation would create administrative difficulties and the size of the damages would be inequitable for the company.

However, the federal judge ultimately sided with the plaintiffs by finding that the plain language of the labor code is not limited only to the regular rate of compensation for hourly pay but it also includes other forms of compensation, such as commission and overtime. Furthermore, the judge asserted that Wells Fargo’s concern over the size of the award and administrative challenges does not override the labor code’s intent.

 The attorneys of Eccleston Law LLC represent investors and advisors nationwide in securities and employment matters. The securities lawyers at Eccleston Law also practice a variety of other areas of practice for financial investors and advisors including Securities FraudCompliance ProtectionBreach of Fiduciary DutyFINRA Matters, and much more. Our attorneys draw on a combined experience of nearly 65 years in delivering the highest quality legal services. If you are in need of legal services, contact us to schedule a one-on-one consultation today.

Related Attorneys: James J. Eccleston

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