JP Morgan Reaches $12M Wage and Hour Class Action Settlement

JP Morgan Chase Bank agreed to pay up to $12 million to settle a wage and hour class action lawsuit alleging its tellers and other bank employees in 12 states worked off the clock.

About 145,000 current and former Chase tellers, bankers, assistant branch manager trainees and sales specialists will be eligible for the approved $12 million class action settlement.

The wage and hour class action lawsuit, originally filed in California Federal Court in 2011, accuses JP Morgan Chase Bank of not paying its bank tellers proper wages or overtime because of not counting some hours worked, not giving duty-free meal or rest breaks, and not paying for employee uniforms, among other claims.

The unpaid overtime class action lawsuit against JP Morgan Chase Bank involves five lawsuits that have been consolidated. Employees had to work off the clock before and after shifts and during breaks, and though employees regularly worked overtime, JP Morgan Chase Bank discouraged them from accurately reporting their hours, the plaintiffs said, adding that managers actually would alter time records.

In addition, JP Morgan Chase Bank used an accounting system that converted worked minutes into fractions of an hour, and then converted that fraction into decimals, which translated to employees not being paid for all the time they worked, according to the unpaid overtime class action lawsuit.

JP Morgan Chase Bank required branch employees working at the end of the day to stay inside their banks when there were cash shortages, up to 30 minutes per shift, according to the most recent amended complaint.

The plaintiffs further claimed that JP Morgan Chase Bank’s policy of converting the number of minutes worked into a decimal system also cut down their wages because fractions such as one-third cannot accurately be converted to decimals.

In addition to Fair Labor and Standard Act violations, the wage and hour class action lawsuit alleges JP Morgan Chase Bank violated state labor laws in Arizona, California, Florida, Illinois, Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan, New York, Ohio, Texas, Washington and Wisconsin.

Approximately $3.8 million of the $12 million settlement fund will pay for attorneys’ fees and costs, with another $550,000 paying for claims administrations. About $200,000 will be incentive payments for the named plaintiffs and others who gave depositions. Up to 65 percent of what’s left over, or about $5 million, is guaranteed to go to Class Members, no matter how few claims are submitted, according to the motion.

The JP Morgan Chase Fair Labor and Standards Act Violation Class Action Lawsuit is Evan Hightower, et al. v. JPMorgan Chase Bank, Case No. 11-CV-01802, in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California.

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If you were forced to work off the clock or without overtime pay in California within the past 2 to 3 years, you have rights – and you don’t have to take on the company alone.