Legal News

Wage-and-hour Wachovia/stock broker suit settles to the tune of $39 million

By Richard Binder

U.S. District Judge David O. Carter in Los Angeles has approved a $39 million preliminary settlement to resolve the multidistrict litigation between Wachovia Corp. and more than 10,000 stock brokers who alleged that they were denied overtime pay and other wages. He also approved a final settlement in which Prudential Financial Inc. agreed to pay $11 million to former stock brokers.

Prudential's retail brokerage division was sold to Wachovia in 2003.

The stock brokers, referred to as financial advisers or financial adviser trainees, alleged that they were misclassified as exempt from overtime under the federal Fair Labor Standards Act and state wage and hour laws. They also claimed that they were not reimbursed for business expenses and did not receive timely paychecks upon leaving the company. Furthermore, they alleged that they were not given breaks for meals and rest periods as required by state law.

Full story at NLJ.com.

Full post as published by Legal Pad | LA on May 14, 2009 (boomark / email).