California Insurance Adjusters File Class Action Unpaid Overtime Lawsuit

A group of California insurance adjusters, on behalf of themselves and all others similarly situated, have filed an unpaid overtime lawsuit against their employer, Georgia-based Custard Insurance Adjusters Inc.

The four named plaintiffs are seeking class-action status for all “allegedly exempt employees” who worked for Custard from Oct. 4, 2014, through the trial date for all Fair Labor Standards Act allegations. For current or former Custard employees filing claims under California’s wage and hour laws, the class period is from Oct. 4, 2013, through the trial date.

Custard is a company that specializes in loss adjustment and risk management services. According to the company website, Custard has been in business since 1962 and is the largest privately held adjusting company and multi-line service provider in the continental United States. There are 250 company-owned branches serving more than 4,000 customers.

Insurance Adjuster Unpaid Overtime Lawsuit

The plaintiffs assert that Custard paid its employees substandard wages by denying overtime pay as well as rest and meal breaks, a practice they allege is/was standard operating procedure at all of Custard’s locations.

According to the insurance adjuster unpaid overtime lawsuit, Custard’s actions are also in violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act 0f 1938. The labor law, often referred to by its acronym FLSA, establishes a minimum wage (currently $7.25 per hour), overtime pay for working more than 40 hours per week, record-keeping, and child labor standards affecting full-time and part-time workers in both the public and private sectors.

Since it was passed by Congress in 1938, the Fair Labor Standards Act has been amended numerous times to do things like increase the minimum wage, expand the law to include state, local, and domestic workers who were not initially covered, mandate employers provide break time and a private area for nursing mothers to express milk, and modify the definition of an exempt employee.

California has its own, more expansive laws to protect workers paid by the hour that includes mandatory overtime pay for a workday that exceeds eight hours and “substantial remedies” for workers denied meal and rest breaks.

The Custard insurance adjuster unpaid overtime lawsuit plaintiffs accuse the company of skirting both federal and California laws and enjoying an “unfair advantage over its competition” at a “disadvantage to its workers.” The plaintiffs are asking to be awarded unpaid wages, which would include compensation for unpaid overtime, unpaid flat-rate tasks, unpaid driver time, unreimbursed mileage, compensation for missed meal breaks and rest periods, as well as damages and any appropriate penalties.

According to the insurance adjuster unpaid overtime lawsuit, Custard has had a consistent policy of permitting, encouraging, and requiring its “allegedly overtime exempt,” salaried, and commission-based insurance adjusters to work in excess of eight hours per day and/or 40 hours per week without paying them overtime as required by FLSA.

The proposed class action lawsuit specifically accuses Custard of failing to:

• Provide legally required meal breaks and rest periods;
• Compensate the class for drive time and/or mileage;
• Compensate the class for time spent “on call” and for flat-rate tasks;
• Provide class members with accurate, semi-monthly itemized wage statements reflecting the total number of hours each worked, the applicable deductions and the applicable hourly rates in effect during the pay period;
• Pay all wages owed upon termination from the company.

Are You Owed Unpaid Overtime Pay?

Employees who believe their wage and hour rights have been violated may be able to bring an employment lawsuit against their employer. A legal professional can assist potential plaintiffs in determine if bringing a lawsuit is right for them.

Fill out the form on this page for a FREE case evaluation by the California employment attorneys at Bradley/Grombacher.