Wachovia to Pay $39 Million in Proposed Settlement of Stock Broker Overtime Class Action

This is a settlement for the Overtime Pay / Off the Clock lawsuit.

A preliminary settlement of $39 million was approved this week by a federal judge in California for a class action lawsuit involving some 10,000 stock brokers who allege they were not compensated for overtime and paid other wages owed them by Wachovia Corp.

In the suit, the brokers, also referred to as financial advisors or financial advisor trainees, alleged that they were wrongly classified so that they were not eligible for overtime under the federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FSLA) and state wage and hour laws. The brokers in California also claim that they didn't receive meal breaks or rest periods. Other claims included not being reimbursed for business expenses, and not being paid in a timely fashion.

The settlement covers financial advisers and trainee financial advisers who worked for Wachovia Securities LLC , Wachovia Corp., or First Union Securities Inc. While FLSA claims must be filed by most class members, subclasses in the settlement exist for workers with state claims in Illinois, Minnesota, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, New York, Ohio and California.