US Bank Employee Claims He Was Misclassified as Exempt

A California man has filed a new class action wage and hour lawsuit against US Bank, alleging he and others in his position were misclassified as exempt instead of nonexempt, denying them their rightful benefits.

The plaintiff, Pedro M., alleges he worked for US Bank as a Staff Appraiser from 2010 through 2017. Pedro alleges that, during his time working for US Bank, he and others considered Staff Appraisers (or Review Appraisers) were misclassified as exempt employees, which barred them from proper overtime pay.

However, he alleges, these employees should not have been considered exempt. He says that in 2015, US Bank reclassified these employees as non-exempt—but their job expectations did not change. Thus, these employees should never have been considered exempt in the first place, the lawsuit argues.

Pedro claims employees may have lost a substantial amount of income because of this alleged misclassification, as they often worked long hours beyond 40 per week. The plaintiff alleges that he would regularly work between 48 and 60 hours per week in order to meet his deadlines. Furthermore, he and others in his position were allegedly not given proper meal and rest breaks.

Pedro filed the lawsuit as a class action, seeking to represent all US Bank Appraiser employees who may have been misclassified as exempt in the three years leading up to the filing of the lawsuit.

Pedro filed his misclassified as exempt lawsuit on multiple counts, including failure to pay overtime compensation, failure to provide itemized wage statements, failure to provide meal and rest breaks, and several others. The lawsuit was filed on August 1, 2018, in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California.

Wage and Hour Regulations

There are a series of both federal and state wage and hour laws put in place to protect workers and ensure they are treated fairly. However, many workers across the country do not know the protections that the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) offers, which can lead to employers taking advantage of them, in some cases requiring unpaid overtime work despite the illegality of doing so.

Others may be afraid that their employers will retaliate or even fire them if they speak up about these kinds of FLSA violations. To protect workers who help to enforce FLSA rules, laws also exist to protect workers from discrimination based on wage and hour complaints.

Filing a California Wage and Hour Lawsuit

If you have worked for an employer like U.S. Bank that may have failed to follow the Fair Labor Standards Act, California break laws, or other labor laws, you may be able to either join a wage and hour class action lawsuit or file a lawsuit of your own.

The Misclassified as Exempt Lawsuit is Case No. 5:18-cv-01612-CAS-SP, in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California.

Join a Free California Wage & Hour Class Action Lawsuit Investigation

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

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