A proposed class action lawsuit accuses Wells Fargo of routinely requiring hourly employees to work overtime without pay. The lawsuit, filed in federal court in Orlando, Florida, claims that Wells Fargo failed to pay hourly employees overtime premiums as required by federal wage law. The bank denied overtime pay knowingly, according to the lawsuit. Wells Fargo did not respond to a request for comment.
Wells Fargo misclassifies business sales consultants as “commissioned salespeople”
A class action lawsuit filed against Wells Fargo claims that the bank misclassified business sale consultants as “exempt” and thus ineligible for overtime pay. According to the suit, business sales consultants have not commissioned salespeople and do not receive time and half pay, which disqualifies them from overtime pay. Furthermore, their incentive bonus is usually less than 50% of their total pay. Therefore, Wells Fargo has violated the federal overtime laws and is liable to employees who have never been paid for overtime.
Wells Fargo denied RCAs overtime pay
A recent class-action lawsuit filed by mortgage consultants working for Wells Fargo alleges that the bank has violated the New York Labor Law by failing to pay them overtime or minimum wage. The consultants say they consistently were not paid agreed-upon wages, commissions, or overtime. The bank failed to account for all forms of compensation, including commissions, when determining their overtime rate. As a result, they were forced to work weekends to meet the daily quotas, or risk being terminated.
The lawsuits filed against Wells Fargo alleged that the bank did not give business sales consultants overtime pay as required by law. The consultants’ claims are based on the fact that Wells Fargo misclassifies business sales consultants as commissioned salespeople. However, the lawsuit claims that business sales consultants do not receive commissions, and are paid a salary plus an incentive bonus, which is often less than half of their total pay.
Wells Fargo pays $2 million to settle a class-action lawsuit
In a recent settlement agreement, Wells Fargo agreed to pay $72.6 million to resolve a lawsuit that claims that its business sales consultants misled consumers about the safety of residential mortgage-backed securities. The settlement also includes $35.3 million to settle claims against the bank that it violated the Federal Residential Mortgage Disclosure Act (FIRREA).
In an attempt to settle the lawsuit, Wells Fargo created a special group that would re-hire former employees. It was reported that well over 1,000 employees were rehired in April 2017 after leaving in protest. The bank also clawed back the income of two former sales consultants, Carrie Tolstedt and John Stumpf, after learning of the class-action suit.
The lawsuit also accuses the bank of defrauding 771 customers of fixed-pricing agreements. The bank falsely represented the price of FX transactions while charging significantly higher spreads. The defrauding practices resulted in tens of millions of dollars in ill-gotten FX revenue for Wells Fargo. The bank was financially incentivized to overcharge customers and failed to monitor its FX sales specialists’ actions. The company also created an environment where employees openly discussed taking advantage of customers.