Los Angeles, CA: Preliminary approval has been granted for a $3 million settlement of an unpaid overtime class action lawsuit brought by Capital One NA assistant branch managers in New York, New Jersey and Maryland.
Filed in March, the plaintiffs alleged Capital One violated the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) as well as wage-and-hour laws in New York, New Jersey and Maryland by wrongly deeming them exempt from federal and state overtime requirements.
For settlement purposes, conditional certification has been granted for a class of assistant branch managers in New York from March 7, 2008, through July 7, 2014; a class of assistant branch managers in New Jersey from March 7, 2012, through July 7, 2014; and a class of assistant branch managers in Maryland from March 7, 2011, through July 7, 2014.
Additionally, the terms of the settlement also stipulate that plaintiffs in an FLSA class consisting of all current and former assistant branch managers with Capital One from March 7, 2011, through July 7, 2014 are entitled to share in the $3 million fund.
According to plaintiffs' estimate, the settlement represents about 27 percent of the class' lost wages. Each class member will each receive an average settlement of about $1,339. "Weighing the benefits of the settlement against the available evidence and the risks associated with proceeding in the litigation, the settlement amount is reasonable,"the plaintiffs' July 29 brief said.
A November 14 hearing is scheduled to make a final determination on the fairness of the settlement, fix the amount of attorneys' fees and costs and hear any objections, according to Friday's order.
The case is Mills et al. v. Capital One NA, case number 1:14-cv-01937, in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.
