Gerlach, et al. v. Wells Fargo & Co., Case No. C-05-0585-CW, U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California

In a class action lawsuit filed in federal court, plaintiffs charged that global financial services corporation Wells Fargo has a common practice of refusing to pay overtime compensation to its business systems employees in violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), as well as state labor laws. The provisionally certified collective action class consists of current and former employees with the title of Business Systems Consultants, e- Business Systems Consultants, and Business Systems Analysts employed by Wells Fargo across America. The plaintiffs alleged that Wells Fargo unlawfully characterizes those employees as exempt in order to deprive them of overtime pay. On January 19, 2007, the Northern California District Court gave final approval to a $12.8 million settlement of the class action lawsuit. The $12.8 million will be used to compensate the plaintiffs for their unpaid overtime.