Former Franklin American Mortgage Employee Files Suit Over Overtime Exemption Rule

A former employee of Franklin American Mortgage, Gina McKeen-Chaplin, has filed suit in California federal court seeking unpaid overtime wages under state and federal laws. The plaintiff alleges that Franklin American misclassified her and other mortgage underwriters as exempt from the overtime requirements of the Fair Labor Standards Act and California state law, and as a result, improperly denied them overtime compensation. The case, Gina McKeen-Chaplin v. Franklin American Mortgage Co., was filed in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California. According to the complaint, Franklin American classified its mortgage underwriters as exempt from overtime pay until early 2010 when it reclassified them. "Like many companies, Franklin American recently reclassified its mortgage underwriters and started paying overtime," said the plaintiff's attorney, Robert L. Schug from the law firm of Nichols Kaster PLLP. "My client simply seeks to recover the overtime pay that she and other mortgage underwriters were denied while they were wrongfully classified as exempt." The plaintiffs are represented by Schug and Mathew Helland from Nichols Kaster LLP, which also represents mortgage underwriters in similar cases against SunTrust Mortgage, Residential Capital/Ally Financial, Washington Mutual, Flagstar Bank, and MetLife Home Loans. For more information, visit www.overtimecases.com.