Morgan Stanley Hit With $5M Wage and Hour Lawsuit

A wage and hour class action lawsuit has been filed against the nationwide financial services company, Morgan Stanley.

The $5 million putative wage and hour class action lawsuit alleges that Morgan Stanley failed to pay its Financial Advisors (FAAs) for overtime that they worked in violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), a federal statute, and various state wage and hour laws.

The unpaid overtime class action lawsuit also alleges that Morgan Stanley had improperly taken business expenses, such as the salary for financial assistants and errors in transactions with clients, from the wages of its financial advisors, in violation of various state wage and hour laws.

Jason Z., the lead plaintiff in the Morgan Stanley wage and hour class action lawsuit, was employed by Morgan Stanley as a Financial Advisor Associate (FAA) during 2012 and claims he regularly worked more than 40 hours per week during his six-month training period and was not properly compensated for these overtime hours.

He also accuses Morgan Stanley of not providing its FAAs with mandatory meal and rest periods and did not furnish their employees itemized wage statements to which they are entitled under California wage and hour laws.

California Labor Law Violations

The important provisions that make up the labor structure of California can be found in the California Labor Code. Despite this, employers covered by California labor laws still commit certain violations, at the expense of their employees. Basically, an employment and labor law violation in California can be any one of the following:

CA Overtime Law: According to California labor law, overtime pay is based on hourly wages, salaries, shift differentials, non-discretionary bonuses and commissions. Failure to include those when determining overtime pay is an overtime bonus violation.

In California, most workers are entitled to overtime pay for all work past eight hours in a day or 40 hours in a week, or for work performed on a seventh consecutive day. Simply being paid a salary does not make an employee exempt from overtime. Salaried employees are entitled to overtime compensation as well, provided that an overtime exemption does not apply to them.

CA Lunch Break Law: As many workers know, employers frequently assert pressure on employees to shorten, interrupt, or work through their meal periods. The California Labor Code prohibits employers from requiring employees to work during meal or rest periods.

For example, if you have been working for more than five hours in a single workday, you are entitled to one 30-minute meal period. With regard to rest periods, you are entitled to a 10-minute break for every four hours you’ve worked. A penalty of an additional hour of pay at a regular rate must be given to you by your employer for every day it failed to provide you a meal or rest break.

California Labor Law Legal Help

Jason is seeking to represent at least 100 FAAs in restitution of all applicable unpaid wages and overtime, liquidated damages, pre-judgment interest, and attorney’s fees and costs for Morgan Stanley’s alleged widespread policy and pattern of practice of violating the California wage and hour laws. He has demanded a jury trial for this case.

If you are employed in California and feel that your employer has violated a state or federal employment law, you may qualify for damages that may be awarded in a possible class action lawsuit.

The Morgan Stanley Wage and Hour Class Action Lawsuit, filed Dec. 19, 2014, is Case No. 12-cv-05109-SI, in the U.S. District Court Northern District of California, San Francisco / Oakland Division.

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