On August 9, 2011, a former AmericaHomeKey, Inc (“AHKI”) Mortgage Loan Officer sued AHKI for misclassifying him and other Mortgage Loan Officers as exempt employees and failing to pay them overtime.  The lawsuit is Joseph Klakulak v. AmericaHomeKey, Inc., Case No. 3:11-cv-00388-MOC-DSC, filed in Western North Carolina Federal District Court in Charlotte, North Carolina.

The lawsuit alleges AHKI employs more than 200 Mortgage Loan Officers nationwide.  These Mortgage Loan Officers sell mortgages from their offices, telephones, and over the internet, and thus are believed to be victims of AHKI’s challenged pay practices.  Federal law may permit these Mortgage Loan Officers to recover unpaid overtime wages for all hours worked in excess of 40 per work week, plus an equal amount for liquidated damages, pre-judgment and post-judgment interest, and attorneys fees and litigation costs.  These AHKI Mortgage Loan Officers can seek unpaid wages for the past two- or three-year period from the date the employee joins the case, depending on whether the Court determines that AHKI willfully violated the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA).

The lawsuit contends that AHKI’s failure to pay their Mortgage Loan Officers overtime wages violates the FLSA.  Plaintiff filed the lawsuit as a nationwide collective action for all Mortgage Loan Officers who work or have worked at AHKI, which means that other current and former AHKI Mortgage Loan Officers may be able to join the lawsuit and seek their unpaid wages.

Rowdy B. Meeks of Rowdy Meeks Legal Group LLC is representing the AHKI Mortgage Loan Officers in the lawsuit.