Winston & Strawn Prevails on Behalf of Wells Fargo in Nationwide FLSA

Winston & Strawn prevailed on behalf of client Wells Fargo in a nationwide Fair Labor Standards Act suit in the Southern District of Texas. The suit alleged Wells Fargo was a "repeat offender" of federal labor laws and failed to pay loan processors nationwide overtime and failed to properly calculate the regular rate of pay.   

Lead plaintiff Rose Griffith sought in January to conditionally certify a class of loan processors who worked in Wells Fargo's 32 national loan processing centers from April 2008 to the present, alleging the bank had a history of past overtime class actions that lent weight to her argument for conditional certification. She lodged her suit against the bank in April 2011, alleging it regularly required loan processors to work more than 40 hours per week, but denied employees the opportunity to record or claim all overtime hours worked. She further alleged that the bank miscalculated the regular rate of pay for overtime purposes by not including certain bonuses in the calculation.

A Texas federal judge denied conditional certification under the FLSA on September 12, 2012, stating that "Griffith has failed to demonstrate the existence of a companywide policy or practice denying loan processors compensation for overtime work." Additionally, Judge Harmon held Wells Fargo's timekeeping software allowed employees to track their work hours, including overtime and work from home, and said evidence of the software's application "flatly contradicted" Griffith's arguments that loan processors were unable to keep accurate records. The court relied significantly on evidence Winston & Strawn presented in its opposition to plaintiff's motion. The court ruled in Wells Fargo's favor even though it applied the lenient first-stage conditional certification stage under the FLSA, a standard that is significantly easier for a class representative to meet than the Rule 23 class certification standard.

The Winston & Strawn team was led by partner Joan Fife with associate Emilie Woodhead leading the brief writing efforts.