Rowdy Meeks Legal Group LLC filed a lawsuit on August 24, 2010 against Bank of America and Countrywide challenging the company-wide policy and practice of classifying Mortgage Loan Officers and Home Loan Consultants as exempt, and thus not paying them overtime and minimum wage. The lawsuit alleges that Bank of America’s and Countrywide’s systematic failure to pay their Mortgage Loan Officers and Home Loan Consultants overtime and/or minimum wage violated the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). The lawsuit was filed as a nationwide collective action, which means that other similarly situated Mortgage Loan Officers and Home Loan Consultants may be eligible to join the lawsuit and seek their unpaid wages.
The lawsuit alleges Bank of America employs Mortgage Loan Officers at more than 800 locations throughout the United States. Likewise, the lawsuit alleges that Countrywide employed Home Loan Consultants in more than 600 locations. A vast majority of Bank of America Mortgage Loan Officers and Countrywide Home Loan Consultants sell mortgages from their offices and telephones, and thus are believed to be victims of Bank of America’s and Countrywide’s pay practice challenged in the lawsuit. Federal law may permit these Mortgage Loan Officers and Home Loan Consultants to recover, among other things, unpaid minimum wage and 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. Unpaid wages can be sought for the past two- or three-year period from the date the employee joins the case, depending on whether Bank of America’s and Countrywide’s alleged violations of the FLSA are deemed willful.
Rowdy B. Meeks of Rowdy Meeks Legal Group LLC is representing the Bank of America Mortgage Loan Officers and Countrywide Home Loan Consultants in the lawsuit. The lawsuit was filed on August 24, 2010 in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, Case No. 10-CV-05332.