Wells Fargo & Co. must pay $97 million to home mortgage consultants and private mortgage bankers in California who didn’t get the breaks they were entitled to under the state’s stringent labor laws.
A federal judge in Los Angeles May 8 agreed with the bankers and consultants that the money they were entitled to should be based not just on their hourly pay but also on their commissions. That bumped the damages for the bank well above the $25 million it had argued it owed the employees.
The lawsuit alleging various California wage and hour labor violations was brought in 2017 by a Wells Fargo mortgage broker in Los Angeles. U.S. District Judge Percy Anderson threw out her claims other than the bank’s failure to provide rest breaks and one on unfair competition.
In January, the judge agreed with the broker that the bank was liable for the labor-law violation. The judgment covers mortgage bankers and consultants in California who worked for Wells Fargo from March 17, 2013, to Aug. 1, 2017.
Representatives of the San Francisco-based bank didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment on the decision.
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