Judge OKs JPMorgan Chase’s Settlement Of Unpaid Overtime Lawsuit for $42 Million

A federal judge approved Oct. 11 a $42 million settlement between JPMorgan Chase & Co. and a class of approximately 3,800 loan processors regarding overtime pay claims under the Fair Labor Standards Act and state law (Davis v. J.P. Morgan Chase & Co., W.D.N.Y., No. 01-6492, final approval of settlement 10/11/11).

Judge David Larimer of the U.S. District Court for the Western District of New York found that the proposed settlement was procedurally and substantially fair. He pointed out that only a small percentage of the individu- als who received notice of the settlement opted out, and he rejected the arguments of three objecting class mem- bers.

The class includes nonsupervisory underwriters, credit analysts, and other employees whose main job duties include evaluation of individuals’ creditworthi- ness for individual loans or lines of credit and/or deter- mination of whether the company should issue such loans or lines of credit.

The class covers employees who were treated as ex- empt from overtime at any point during the class pe- riod. For employees in New York, the class period runs from Sept. 8, 1996, to April 6, 2011, the date Larimer preliminarily approved the settlement. The class period runs from Sept. 8, 1999, through the preliminary ap- proval date for class members in any state other than New York.