Salaried Advisors, Trainees, Win $4.9 Million from Merrill Lynch in FLSA Lawsuit

Merrill Lynch will pay $4.9 million to settle a lawsuit filed by a class of current and former salaried advisors who said they were wrongfully denied overtime pay, according to recent court filings. A State of Florida judge signed off on the settlement, which will be distributed to the financial solutions advisors who worked at the bank over the past three years. Financial solutions advisors are usually Merrill Lynch broker trainees or work with mass affluent customers at the firm’s consumer bank-based Merrill Edge unit.

The plaintiffs alleged that Merrill Lynch failed to pay for all the overtime the financial solutions advisors and trainees logged beyond their 40-hour work weeks. The lead plaintiff filed her lawsuit on December 3 in Broward County, Florida, after almost one year of negotiation and mediation had come to nothing.

Both sides agreed that the settlement represented “a fair, adequate, and reasonable compromise,” according to a motion requesting the judge to sign off.

Current and former Merrill Lynch financial solutions advisors who meet the class’s eligibility requirements do not have to participate in the settlement and can opt out and pursue individual claims on their own, the motion stipulates. Any unpaid funds from the settlement will be returned to Merrill Lynch. The plaintiff’s lawyers are scheduled to receive one-third of the settlement as attorney’s fees, according to the motion.

FLSA lawsuits are unusual for traditional brokers who are generally paid a portion of the fees and commissions that they generate, but are more commonly brought by their salaried counterparts and client associates.

In 2016, Merrill Lynch agreed to pay $14 million to settle a class claim that it forced around 9,500 financial advisor trainees to work 60 hours or more per week without being paid overtime. In addition, in 2019, Merrill agreed to pay $550,000 to settle claims that it failed to pay overtime to 51 compliance personnel who were responsible for reviewing broker emails. Other major brokerage firms, such as UBS and Wells Fargo, have also been targeted in similar lawsuits filed by former and existing employees seeking unpaid overtime compensation.

Understanding FLSA lawsuits in Florida

An FLSA lawsuit is a legal action brought on behalf of employees of a company, either individually or as a group (class-action), against their employer for violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act. This federal law establishes minimum wage, when workers are supposed to receive overtime, recordkeeping, and child labor standards affecting full- and part-time workers. In this case, the employees argued that they had been unfairly denied overtime pay by their employers, who required them to work 60 or more hours a week. Since they weren’t an exempt class of workers, they won their suit against Merrill Lynch, which was forced to pay the class of employees $4.9 million.

Talk to a Tampa, FL, FLSA Lawyer Today

Florin Gray represents the interests of employees in lawsuits filed against employers who failed to pay their employees overtime. Call our Tampa employment lawyers today at Florin Gray to schedule an appointment, and we can begin investigating your allegations right away.

Source:

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