Wells Fargo Overtime Lawsuit: Federal Court Certifies Nationwide Class Of Wells Fargo Technical Support Workers Seeking Overtime Pay

Tue Oct 27, 2009 2:45pm EDT

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75 Day Deadline Applies For Eligible Wells Fargo Workers To Join Overtime Pay
Case
SAN FRANCISCO--(Business Wire)--
Kelly M. Dermody of Lieff Cabraser Heimann & Bernstein, LLP, announced that
current and former Wells Fargo technical support workers throughout the United
States are a significant step closer to recovering pay for overtime hours they
worked. Yesterday, Judge Claudia Wilken of the United States District Court for
the Northern District of California granted plaintiffs` motion for certification
of the case as a collective action. The complaint charges that the workers
should have been paid overtime for hours worked over 40 per week.

"Wells Fargo became one of the nation`s largest banks in large part because of
the hard work and dedication of its employees, including those that keep its
computer systems operating properly," stated Aaron Cooper, one of the
plaintiffs. "I am glad that my fellow IT support workers can join the case and
have the opportunity to get paid for the many hours of overtime they have worked
for many years."

"In granting certification, the Court conditionally recognizes that these
employees have similar job duties, such that addressing their claims in a single
action - rather than many individual lawsuits - is appropriate," noted Ms.
Dermody. "We look forward to proving at trial that Wells Fargo misclassified
certain IT workers under federal and state wage and hour laws as exempt from
overtime pay."

The next step in the litigation the providing of notice to class members. A
one-page form, called a "consent to join form," will be sent by U.S. mail and
email to the several thousand employees, within nine days of today. Each
employee should protect his or her rights by returning the form to the
plaintiffs` counsel. Until an individual sends in that form, his or her statute
of limitations (the time period for which overtime pay can be recovered)
continues to run.

The Court-approved notice to the class can be found at
http://www.lieffcabraser.com/pdf/20091027-wf-consent.pdfhttp://www.lieffcabraser.com/employment/wells-fargo.htm,
and the single-page consent to join form employees must complete and mail to
protect their rights can be found at
http://www.lieffcabraser.com/pdf/20091027-wf-notice.pdf.

"Wells Fargo employees who wish to protect their rights should promptly send in
the form. For each day that they delay submitting the form, they risk losing a
day of overtime pay," explained Ms. Dermody. "The employees must file those
forms within 75 days to be able to recover under federal law, or they risk
losing their opportunity to assert their federal rights in this lawsuit
forever."

About the Wells Fargo Overtime Pay IT Worker Class Action

Current and former employees of Wells Fargo & Company, who worked as technical
support workers, with the primary duties of installing, maintaining, and/or
supporting Wells Fargo`s software and/or hardware, filed the complaint in 2008.
The suit, entitled Lewis v. Wells Fargo,Case No. 08-2670 CW, includes overtime
claims under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) as well as the laws of
California and Minnesota.

The Court`s October 26, 2009, order certified a class that includes all Network
Engineers, Operating Systems Engineers, Information Security Analysts, Technical
Service Specialists, Systems Support Analysts, Web Engineers, Web Support
Engineers, Web Systems Engineers, Operating Systems Analysts (level 2), Systems
QA Analysts (levels 2 or 3), Computer Operations Analysts (levels 3 or 4),
Database Administrators (levels 2 or 3), and Applications Systems Engineers
(level 3) who worked for Wells Fargo as exempt employees at any time during the
past three years anywhere in the United States.

An estimated 3,000 employees are eligible to participate. Wells Fargo
reclassified some of these employees to hourly status and paid many of them what
plaintiffs allege are incomplete backpay awards. These reclassified workers are
eligible to participate even if they received such payments.

Further Information For Wells Fargo IT Workers

Current and former Wells Fargo technical support workers who wish to learn more
about the lawsuit or to join the lawsuit should visit
http://www.lieffcabraser.com/employment/wells-fargo.htm or call 1-800-541-7358
to contact the plaintiffs` attorneys.

Representing plaintiffs and class members are law firms Lieff Cabraser Heimann &
Bernstein, LLP and Haber Polk LLP. Members of the media can obtain a copy of the
Court`s order by contacting Jahan C. Sagafi of Lieff Cabraser by e-mail at
jsagafi@lchb.com.

Lieff Cabraser Heimann & Bernstein, LLP
Kelly M. Dermody, 415-956-1000
Jahan C. Sagafi, 415-956-1000