News / Updates
If you have not returned your consent to join this lawsuit and are interested in making a claim for your unpaid wages, you must return the consent form to our offices before July 7.
On June 2, 2008 Judge Barbara B. Crabb issued a decision stating that Defendant violated federal and state statutes by not paying Plaintiffs for certain compensable work time.
The Magistrate Judge has recently granted our motion for conditional class certification.
Nichols Kaster & Anderson and the Donati Law Firm have brought a nationwide lawsuit on behalf of hourly workers who are or were employed by Kellogg Company as operators or production workers in any of its numerous plants located across the country.
Currently, 76 Special Investigators have joined this case for lost wages. In order to join we must have received and filed your consent form by June 2, 2008. If you have any questions please feel free to contact us at (877) 448-0492.
On May 2nd, 2008 we mailed judicial notice out to just over 1100 former and current Network Technicians in the state of Minnesota to notify them about this lawsuit.
On May 2, 2008, Plaintiffs in the lawsuit Sibley et al v. Sprint Nextel Corp. and Sprint/United Management Co., filed a motion seeking to certify the case as a nationwide class action.
On April 17, 2008, Nichols Kaster & Anderson sued Countrywide for wage and hour violations under California laws and the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA).
We are thrilled to announce that today we mailed notices to over 900 former and current loan officers eligible to join this overtime case.
We are only one month away from the deadline to join this overtime case against Fastenal.
Nichols Kaster & Anderson sued HSBC again last week for wage and hour violations under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) and California laws.
Nationwide has agreed that judicial notice of this case should be sent to all potential class members. Special Investigators eligible to participate in this litigation will be receiving notice on or about April 3, 2008.
On April 8, 2008, a former employee of ATA Airlines, Inc. filed a putative class action lawsuit against ATA Airlines, Inc. and Global Aero Logistics, Inc. for violations of the Worker's Retraining and Notification Act ("WARN Act").
On March 25, 2008, we received an Order from Judge Montgomery granting our motion for Conditional Class Certification.
Call center employees represented by the law firm of Nichols Kaster & Anderson, PLLP have brought a putative collective action for unpaid wages and overtime against Wisconsin Bell Telephone Company d/b/a AT&T Midwest. The suit was filed in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin on March 31, 2008.
Call center employees represented by Nichols Kaster & Anderson, PLLP filed a wage and hour action against Illinois Bell Telephone Company d/b/a AT&T Illinois, SBC Illinois and Ameritech Illinois on April 1, 2008.
On March 27, 2008, a former employee of Starbucks Coffee Company filed a class action lawsuit in Minnesota State Court in Washington County.
An important deadline is approaching quickly! The Notice period for this lawsuit ends on April 1, 2008, so we can only accept consent forms to join this case for one more week. We currently have 132 clients on the case and continue to receive consent forms. If you have any questions, please contact us toll free at 877-448-0492.
On March 24, 2008, the Court granted our motion to strike eighteen of the defenses that Decision One and HSBC pled in the case.
On March 19, 2008, Judge Maxine Chesney of the Northern District of California gave a sweeping victory to NKA when she conditionally certified a nationwide class of current and former loan officers who were denied overtime.
The case has reached an important point. Perfect Mortgage a/k/a Bergin Financial agreed that notice should be sent to all potential class members.
Today we added our 500th former Assistant General Manger to the overtime case against Fastenal. We have received an overwhelming response to the Notice sent on February 29th.
Two more cable companies have been sued this month for wage and hour violations.
We have filed a Class Action and Collective Action Lawsuit in the U.S. District of New York on behalf of current and former Utilization Review Nurses, Case Management Nurses, Medical Management Nurses and other similar job titles performing substantially similar job duties at WellPoint, Inc.
We are thrilled to announce that today we mailed notices to over 3,500 former Assistant General Managers eligible to join this overtime case! This is a very important moment in the case. If you received this mailing, you only have until May 14, 2008 to join this case. If you have any questions about what you need to do to join, please contact Dan Wozniak toll free at (877) 448-0492 or click here to download the form you need to complete to join the case.
On Thursday, February 21, 2008, a complaint for unpaid overtime was filed in Albany, New York by current and former employees against WellPoint, Inc., one of the nation's largest medical health benefits company.
2/20/2008
Nichols Kaster & Anderson Draws Attention to Jury Trial Question
Attorney Steven Andrew Smith represents plaintiff on case that draws attention to the question of whether a plaintiff is entitled to a jury trial in a Minnesota Human Rights Act case under the Minnesota Constitution.
We have filed a class action lawsuit in the U.S. District of Kansas on behalf of current and former road drivers of Renzenberger, Inc. The lawsuit alleges that Renzenberger violated the federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) by misclassifying its road drivers as exempt from the FLSA.
2/11/2008
Lawsuit to Recover Commissions for Sprint Nextel's Retail Employees brought by Nichols Kaster & Anderson, PLLP
Nichols Kaster & Anderson, PLLP has brought a putative nationwide class action lawsuit on behalf of commissioned employees against Sprint Nextel Corporation and Sprint/United Management Company.
We have filed a class action lawsuit in the U.S. District of Minnesota on behalf of current and former loan officers of American Equity Mortgage. The lawsuit alleges that American Equity Mortgage violated the federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) by misclassifying its loan officers as exempt from the FLSA.
This case has reached a critical point! Rock Financial has agreed that notice of this case should be sent to all potential class members. As such, over 750 individuals eligible to participate in this litigation will be receiving notice on February 1, 2008. Those interested in joining the case have until April 1, 2008 to return a consent form. If you have any questions, please contact us toll free at 877-448-0492.
Former and current assistant general managers are continuing to join the case on a daily basis.
The Court just ruled that all AIMCO's leasing consultants, including those who worked at its call centers, should receive notice of their right to participate in the current action for overtime pay.
We have filed a class action lawsuit in the Central District of California on behalf of current and former Sales Representatives of Anderson Merchandisers, L.P.
We have filed a class action lawsuit in the Central District of California on behalf of Soma Financial Loan Officers and Loan Processors.
People continue to join this case daily and the deadline to do so is December 21st.
On November 16, 2007, The Minnesota District Court granted our motion for partial summary judgment regarding the individual liability of both the President and Vice President of Ace Mortgage Funding, Inc.
The deadline to join the lawsuit against Qwest on behalf of call center workers is NOVEMBER 17, 2007. To date, more than 1700 current and former call center employees from around the country have joined this lawsuit to demand payment of unpaid wages.
Nichols Kaster & Anderson Brings Overtime Lawsuit Against Fastenal Company On Behalf of Assistant Managers
On October 12, 2007, we filed our First Amended Complaint . In this complaint, we added Pennsylvania state claims and expanded the scope of the case. While our initial complaint only included claims on behalf of employees with the Account Manger III and Inside Account Executive job titles, we have included the position title of Account Manager II in the amended complaint. We are also investigating whether any other non-exempt (hourly) positions, such as Account Manager I and Funder, should be included. If you or anyone you know worked in these positions and would like more information about the case, please contact Lucas Kaster at 877-777-0622 or lkaster@nka.com. If you were not paid for overtime you worked as an Inside Account Executive, Account Manager I, Account Manger II, Account Manager III, Funder, or other non-exempt (hourly) position at Decision One, you may submit a Consent Form to join this case.
We are at a very exciting point in the case! Earlier today, we won a motion to compel. The Court ordered Defendants to produce to us the "call clip library" maintained on its intranet site. We believe these call clips will provide great evidence as they are recorded phone calls between loan consultants and prospective customers.
On Friday, October 5, 2007, we filed a motion for partial summary judgment, asking the Court to find that a loan consultant's primary job duty is to sell loans. On that same day, Defendants filed their motion for summary judgment on several issues including whether Dan B. Gilbert is individually liable as an "employer" under the FLSA and whether a loan consultant's primary job duty is to provide financial consulting services rather than sales.
We do not yet have a hearing date for these summary judgment motions as we have just begun the briefing process. We will update you on the progress of these motions and any Court rulings that may arise as a result of them.
The deadline to join the lawsuit to recover unpaid wages from Celestica, Adecco, and Spherion for past and present employees from Celestica's Austin, Texas facility is Monday, October 8, 2007. If you were employed at Celestica's Austin facility and are interested in joining this lawsuit your consent form must be postmarked on or before the October 8, 2007 deadline. To download a consent form, please click here . If you do not have access to a printer and would like a consent form sent to you, contact us today and we will send you a consent form immediately. You can return your consent form to us by e-mail at coleman@nka.com, by fax at 612-338-4878, or by mail. If you have any questions, do not hesitate to contact us toll-free at 1-877-448-0492.
To date, more than 1200 current and former call center employees from around the country have joined this lawsuit to demand payment of unpaid wages. We are still in the discovery phase of this case and are in the process of contacting everyone to answer your questions and obtain additional information from you. There is still time to join this lawsuit to make a claim for your unpaid wages. If you, or someone you know, wish to join this case or have any questions please call us at 1-877-448-0492 as soon as possible. You can also download a Consent Form and fax it to us at 612-338-4878.
On September 6, 2007 the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals rejected a petition for interlocutory appeal brought by Ace Mortgage Funding Inc., in which the company argued that it does not have to comply with the overtime pay requirements of the Fair Labor Standards Act because it is a retail or service establishment. The Minnesota District Court previously granted Plaintiffs summary judgment on this issue, finding that Ace's compensation plan violated the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). This marks another failure in the financial services industry's efforts to re-characterize itself as a retail business for the purpose of avoiding the overtime requirements of federal law.
On September 17, 2007 the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois certified a nationwide overtime collective action against Apartment Investment and Management Company ("AIMCO"). As a result of the Court's order, notice of the action will be sent to thousands of individuals who worked for AIMCO as leasing consultants. Nichols Kaster & Anderson anticipates sending this notice sometime next month.
We are happy to report that over 2,700 current and former employees of Celestica, Adecco, and Spherion have joined this lawsuit to demand payment of unpaid wages. We are still in the discovery phase of this case. As part of discovery, we recently took the depositions of Celestica and Adecco corporate representatives. We gained some very helpful information from these depositions. We will continue to keep you updated on the progress of this case. In the meantime, if you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact us at 1-877-448-0492.
The law firm of Nichols Kaster & Anderson, PLLP is focused on protecting the rights of employees in cases involving violation of the Workers Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act (the WARN Act). Generally, the WARN Act requires companies to provide their employees with 60 days written notice in advance of a mass layoff or plant closing. In the absence of such notice, employers may be liable to each affected employee for 60 days wages and benefits.
With the firm of Outten & Golden LLP (1-877-4-OUTTEN), we are currently pursuing a claim against American Home Mortgage on behalf of its employees who were terminated on August 3, 2007 without any advanced written notice. If you worked at an AHM site with 50 or more employees and were terminated on August 3, 2007, you may be entitled to 60 days wages and benefits. If you believe that AHM has violated your WARN rights, you can contact our firm immediately at 877-448-0492.
We are still waiting on a ruling from the Court on Defendant's motion to dismiss the action against Rock Financial, a Quicken Loans Company. However, we optimistically continue to seek plaintiffs who would like to pursue overtime claims. If you, or someone you know, has worked as a Mortgage Banker with Rock Financial in the past three years and did not receive overtime compensation, please contact us immediately.
We are pleased to inform you that the backup tapes containing emails from April - June 2004 are finally being provided to our computer forensics expert. In addition, we recently produced our expert damages report. Defendants' expert damages report is due to us by September 5, 2007. We anticipate that the trial will likely be pushed out a couple of months due to these expert issues. As always, if you have questions about the case, please do not hesitate to contact us.
The Judge issued an Order today ruling in our favor on some significant issues. First, the Court denied Todd White's motion asking the Court to find that he was not an "employer" and that he should be dismissed from the case. As a result, he must respond to our motion asking the Court to find that property specialists were not properly classified as exempt, within nine days. Second, the Court refused to stay the proceedings against White pending the bankruptcy, so the case against him will move forward. With respect to the bankruptcy action, that case is still pending.
On Friday, July 30, 2007, Judge Michael J. Davis of the District of Minnesota issued an order granting our Motion for Conditional Class Certification in the overtime lawsuit against Qwest. The Court concluded that Sales Consultants and Sales & Service Consultants were similarly situated nationwide and could proceed through discovery as a class. This is a significant victory in the lawsuit against Qwest as it allows us to send judicial notice of the lawsuit to current and former call center employees of Qwest who worked in both Consumer and Small Business Call Centers as various Sales Consultants and Sales & Service Consultants since August 30, 2003. Qwest has also been ordered to provide NKA with a list of the names and addresses of these employees; we expect the size of the potential class to be more than 8,000 individuals. If you have any information or questions about this, or need to update your contact information, please contact us at 1-877-448-0492.
With the exception of a small group of people who have already been notified, the deadline to join the lawsuit to recover unpaid wages from Celestica, Adecco, and Spherion is Monday, July 23, 2007. If you have any questions about your deadline, please contact us as soon as possible.
Currently, approximately forty individuals have joined this case, and that number continues to increase daily. Our Motion for Conditional Class Certification and Court-Approved Notice is currently pending with the Court.
The case against Celestica, Adecco, and Spherion for unpaid wages is progressing well. To date, over 2,000 people have joined this lawsuit to demand compensation for unpaid work time! We are at the beginning of the stage of litigation called “discovery.” During this phase, the parties exchange information relating to the case. As part of the discovery phase, we recently inspected the Celestica facility in Charlotte, North Carolina. We gained a lot of valuable information at this inspection.
We have filed a class action lawsuit in the Central District of California on behalf of thousands of hourly workers who worked at Celestica Corporation's facility in Fontana, CA. The suit seeks unpaid wages for time that employees of Celestica and Adecco, USA Inc. spent waiting to pass through security screening, as well as compensation for denied meal and rest periods. The lawsuit is entitled Cervantez et al. v. Celestica Corp. et al. If you worked in Celesttica's Frontana, CA facility in the last four years and would like more information about the case, please contact us at 1-877-448-0492.
We received the order we were awaiting from the Minnesota Court and have now re-filed our clients' claims in the states in which they worked. The cases are now moving forward again and we will try to keep them moving as quickly as possible.
We will be meeting with the Judge on July 10, 2007, to set a timeline and schedule for this case. At that time we will also present the Judge with a motion requesting that AIMCO provide us with a list of current and former leasing consultants so we can notify them of this action. So far, individuals from at least thirteen states have filed overtime claims in this action.
The bankruptcy court has approved a third distribution of funds to those with claims against Conseco. Our clients will receive an additional 4.5% of their claim within the next few weeks.
The Court issued a Scheduling Order setting this case for a trial date of November 5, 2007. We are very excited about having a trial before the end of the year. Currently, we are in the process of calculating damages for all the Plaintiffs involved in the case and preparing our supplemental expert report. We recently finished combing through the over 91,000 emails produced by Quicken and are in the process of obtaining even more emails as the Court ruled in our favor and ordered Quicken to produce to us all emails sent and received for the month of May 2004. We consider this to be a big victory as the emails contain great evidence related to the issues at the heart of this litigation.
In April, Nichols, Kaster & Anderson moved for conditional class certification in our case on behalf of loan officer who were denied overtime pay while working for Defendant Premier Mortgage Funding. The court granted that motion earlier this week.
Last week, Nichols, Kaster & Anderson filed a lawsuit against HSBC Mortgage Corp. The lawsuit, filed as a putative class and collective action, alleges that HSBC failed to pay proper overtime compensation to its loan officers, and retaliated against an employee who complained about the practice. The lawsuit was filed in federal court in the Northern District of California alleging violations of both federal and state wage and hour laws. We are now waiting for the Defendant to answer the Complaint. In the meantime, if you have any lists or names of current or former loan officers, please send them to us immediately so that we can notify these individuals of this lawsuit. With each day that passes, these individuals may be losing a day of overtime pay. If you have any questions please contact us toll free at 1-877-448-0492. The case is Wong et al. v. HSBC Mortgage et al, case no. 07-2446.
The Oak Street Overtime Litigation has been resolved amicably without admission of liability by any Defendant. As a result, we are no longer accepting consent forms. Please contact Tim Selander at (877) 448-0492 x 281 with any questions.
On February 9, 2007, we had a hearing on our motion for partial summary judgment and our motion to send a second notice. We should have a ruling from the Court within 30 days. We will keep you updated throughout this process. Please call us at 877-448-0492 if you have any questions.
The Defendants answered the complaint on February 5, 2007. Please contact us for more information on this case.
Premier has responded to our first set of discovery requests and our motion for the list of all current and former loan officers who worked Premier Mortgage within the last three years. The Court has given the opportunity to respond to Premier's opposition to our motion for the list and we intend to do so this week. After we file our reply brief, we will wait for the Court to determine whether all loan officers are "similarly situated." If the Court rules in our favor, we will be able to send court-approved notice of this lawsuit to everyone who is eligible to join.
The deadline to join this case is January 15, 2007. As such, if you know of any current or former loan consultants, web loan consultants, or web mortgage bankers who have not yet joined this case, please tell them that it is not too late. Additionally, we have a hearing scheduled with the Court on January 17, 2007 to resolve some outstanding issues related to discovery, the scheduling order in this case, and the corrective notice that was sent to Plaintiffs by Quicken Loans Inc.
NKA and Wells Fargo Financial have been involved in active discovery - meaning, we have been obtaining the ammunition we need to fight for our clients' denied overtime pay. On November 30, 2006 we conducted our first deposition, and on January 16, 2007, we are deposing a top corporate officer about many company practices. By January 26, 2006, NKA will serve its motion for conditional class certification - in other words, our motion to have judicial notice sent to all credit managers and assistant managers at Wells Fargo branches across the country.
Yesterday we filed a motion for summary judgment and motion for renewed notice. For more information on these motions or to update your contact information, please call us at 877-448-0492.
We filed our Complaint with the Court in December 2006 and are waiting for Ace Mortgage to answer. In the meantime, if you have any lists or names of current or former loan processors please send them to us immediately so that we can notify these individuals of this lawsuit. With each day that passes, these individuals may be losing a day of overtime pay.
We are currently waiting for the judge to rule on our Motion for Summary Judgment. We will keep you updated throughout this process. In the meantime, if you have any questions, or if any of your contact information has changed, please call us toll-free at (877) 448-0492.
On November 15, 2006, court-authorized Notice of this lawsuit was sent to over 3,000 potential class members. Currently, over 200 individuals have joined this lawsuit as Plaintiffs and we are hopeful that this number will continue to rise as a result of the Notice. The deadline to sign up for this case is January 15, 2007.
We have asked Premier to provide us with a list of all current and former employees who have worked as loan officers within the last three years so that we may notify these individuals of this lawsuit. Because Premier has refused our request for the list, we will be filing a motion for conditional class certification and judicial notice within the week. Additionally, we will be taking the deposition of Premier's corporate representative(s) on December 6, 2006.
We have filed a motion requesting that the Court authorize notice of the lawsuit to loan consultants nationwide. Oral argument will be held next week. Overall, we are pleased with the progression of the case.
We are currently waiting for the judge to rule on our Motion for Summary Judgment. We will keep you updated throughout this process. In the meantime, if you have any questions, or if any of your contact information has changed, please call us toll-free at (877) 448-0492.
On September 6th we took the depositions of Todd White, Angela Nash, and Russell Brooks. These depositions provided us with information that is very helpful to the case. ProMove has scheduled the depositions of the seven named Plaintiffs in this case. These depositions will occur in mid-October. If you know of anyone who would like to join but has not signed up, they should contact us promptly to do so.
On September 25, 2006, we filed an amended complaint to include Robert Gregory as a Defendant and to include claims for violations of wage and hour laws in the states of Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Minnesota, Nevada and Ohio.
On July 10, 2006, we participated in mediation with West's attorneys in an attempt to settle your claims. We did not resolve anything during that process. However, we are still in settlement discussions with West's attorneys.
West's attorneys have asked for more time to discuss a settlement. We have been informed that we should know by the middle of October whether or not a settlement has been reached. If you have any questions please contact Jennica Date at 877-448-0492 ext 211.
The court recently signed an order agreeing to provide Premier Mortgage Funding with an extension of time to respond to our Complaint. Defendant's response to our Complaint is now due on September 26, 2006. If you have any questions about this case, please call us toll-free at (877) 448-0492.
We filed our response to Defendant's Motion for Summary Judgment on Monday, September 18th. Defendant's response is due October 6th. We will keep you updated throughout this process.
Settlement checks were mailed at the end of August. If you are part of this lawsuit and you have not yet received your settlement check, please contact us.
At this time, we are still waiting for the Court to order ProMove to provide us with the names and addresses of property specialists and senior property specialists so we can notify them of this action. To date, 34 individuals have joined by learning about this case from others involved. Finally, the depositions of ProMove's company representatives and Todd White have been rescheduled to take place in Atlanta, Georgia on September 6, 2006.
Our mediation with Fidelity's attorneys on August 8, 2006, was unsuccessful and we are continuing with the litigation process. We are currently preparing to file an important motion for this case. It could be as late as next spring before the court rules on this motion, but we will keep you updated throughout this process.
8/16/2006
KFC
We are currently finishing up the discovery phase of this action. During this phase, the parties exchange information and take depositions in order to fully understand the case. We have taken the depositions of several KFC corporate representatives and have obtained helpful information during those depositions. KFC has recently scheduled the depositions of some of our New York clients to take place in late August. We also brought a motion to the Court to expand the number of individuals who may participate in the case. We will have a hearing on that motion next week and will then await a decision from the Court.
Washington Mutual requested an extension of time requested to respond to our complaint. Their response to the complaint is now due on August 28, 2006.
We filed our Complaint with the Court on August 14, 2006, and are waiting for Premier Mortgage Funding to answer. In the meantime, if you know any current or former loan officers who may be interested in this case, please have them contact us toll-free at (877) 448-0492. With each day that passes, these individuals may be losing a day of overtime pay or minimum wage compensation.
There have been recent developments in the case after we met with the mediator on July 10, 2006. We will inform you in the coming weeks of those developments via this website and U.S. Mail.
Information relating to the mediation was mailed out on June 20, 2006. If you have any questions please contact us at 877.448.0492.
We were scheduled to have a settlement conference with the judge on June 15, 2006. However, Robert Gregory had emergency back surgery and was unable to attend on Ace's behalf. In lieu of that conference, Ace suggested that we mediate this case with a private mediator. We are working with Ace's attorneys to find a date for this mediation, which will likely occur in late summer. The mediation process typically takes several more months before we finalize any settlement reached and present settlement offers to our clients.
We have been ordered to notify you that the court expects us to engage in settlement discussions regarding your claims against the Defendant. On July 10, 2006 we will be mediating four out of the fifteen groups, and are in discussions to mediate the rest of the groups on a later date. This document is the court's May 25, 2006 order regarding the progression of the claims of all fifteen groups. Please read this document and contact us with any questions you may have.
We have scheduled a mediation for this case in August. We will keep you updated as we know more. If you have any questions, please contact us at 877.448.0492.
We attended a mediation in Richmond, Virginia last week to try to settle the case. We will soon inform our clients by mail of the outcome of that mediation. This information is confidential and therefore cannot be posted on the web.
We are waiting for a response from the Defendant on our Motion for Summary Judgment. If you have not already done so, please return your interrogatories and any documents you may have regarding your employment with Fidelity Mortgage Inc. to us immediately.
Top US videogame publisher EA has agreed to pay $14.9 million to settle a lawsuit by software engineers who claimed that they were not paid for working overtime.
We recently brought a motion for conditional class certification so that we can provide notice of this lawsuit to current and former property specialists and senior property specialists. We are waiting for ProMove's response to that motion. We will meet with ProMove's attorneys in early May to discuss a timeline for the case.
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