Federal Judge Denies Wells Fargo’s Attempt to Quash Class-Action Arbitration Claim for Overtime Pay
From the Desk of Jim Eccleston at Eccleston Law LLC:
A New York federal judge has denied Wells Fargo Advisors’ attempt to vacate a ruling from an American Arbitration Association (AAA) arbitrator that a punitive class-action lawsuit involving unpaid overtime could proceed in arbitration.
According to the federal judge’s ruling, in 2015, three entry-level Wells Fargo advisors filed a class-action arbitration claim against Wells Fargo Advisors in AAA. In their complaint, the advisors argued that the firm violated the Fair Labor Standards Act and New York labor laws by inappropriately misclassifying employees in the “apprentice phase” of its training program as exempt from overtime requirements.
The advisors filed their punitive class-action claim in AAA because FINRA cannot preside over class-action cases. In 2018, the AAA arbitrator approved the class initiative, which was followed by Wells Fargo’s motion to quash.
The federal judge in its denial of Wells Fargo’s motion asserted that it was up to the AAA arbitrator to rule on whether the punitive class-action could proceed because the district court did not have the authority in determining whether the arbitrator exceeded her broad authority.
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