Austin v. Cuna Mutual Insurance Society

232 F.R.D. 601, 11 Wage & Hour Cas.2d (BNA) 325, 2006 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 3001, 2006 WL 197075
CourtDistrict Court, W.D. Wisconsin
DecidedJanuary 26, 2006
DocketNo. 05-C-692-C
StatusPublished
Cited by32 cases

This text of 232 F.R.D. 601 (Austin v. Cuna Mutual Insurance Society) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, W.D. Wisconsin primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Austin v. Cuna Mutual Insurance Society, 232 F.R.D. 601, 11 Wage & Hour Cas.2d (BNA) 325, 2006 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 3001, 2006 WL 197075 (W.D. Wis. 2006).

Opinion

ORDER

CRABB, District Judge.

This is a civil action for monetary relief under the Fair Labor Standards Act, 29 U.S.C. § 207(a). Plaintiff Carol Springman Austin, a former employee of defendant CUNA Mutual Insurance Society, alleges that defendant violated the statute by not paying her overtime compensation. (The parties agree that “CUNA Mutual Group” is “not an incorporated or organized legal entity” but simply a trade name “for numerous companies affiliated with CUNA Mutual Insurance Society.” Compl., dkt. #2, at H11. Therefore, I will use the term “defendant” in reference to defendant CUNA Mutual Insurance Society from this point forward.) Plaintiff seeks to prosecute this action on behalf of herself and similarly situated employees of defendant who were denied overtime pay. 29 U.S.C. § 216(b). Jurisdiction is present. 28 U.S.C. § 1331.

In an order dated November 29, 2005, I granted in part plaintiffs motion for court facilitation of notice and ordered defendant to disclose the names and addresses of its [603]*603employees that might be similarly situated to her for the purpose of this lawsuit. In addition, I gave defendant until December 15, 2005 to file objections to plaintiffs proposed notice. Defendant has filed a list of 32 individuals who fall within plaintiffs proposed class. In addition, defendant has filed a brief in opposition to plaintiffs motion for court facilitation of notice, arguing that court-facilitated notice is improper in this case and that, if the court concludes otherwise, it should limit the group of people who receive the notice and make certain alterations to its content. Plaintiff has filed a brief in reply.

For the reasons stated below, I will authorize plaintiffs sending of notice to the individuals that fall within the class described in the November 29 order. Plaintiffs allegations are sufficient to suggest that she is similarly situated to other employees who were allegedly denied overtime compensation and I believe that notifying those individuals of the existence of this lawsuit is appropriate. Plaintiff will be allowed to send the notice and consent form attached to this order, with one alteration, to the 32 individuals identified by defendant as falling into plaintiffs proposed class.

Before I address the parties’ arguments, I will summarize the relevant allegations contained in plaintiffs complaint.

ALLEGATIONS OF FACT

Plaintiff Carol Springman Austin is a resident of Oregon, Wisconsin. Defendant CUNA Mutual Insurance Society is a mutual insurance company organized under Wisconsin law with its principal place of business in Madison, Wisconsin. Defendant provides life, accident and health insurance to its policyholders, which are primarily credit unions and their members.

Plaintiff began working for defendant on July 17, 2000. Her job classification was Law Specialist II. At the time she was hired, the “Law Specialist” positions were divided into Law Specialist I, Law Specialist II, Law Specialist III, Senior Law Specialist and Managing Law Specialist. Ml Law Specialists worked in defendant’s Office of General Counsel. Plaintiff was assigned to the Litigation Team within the Legal and Corporate Development Division of the Office of General Counsel. All Law Specialists were classified as exempt from overtime payment requirements.

In 2001, other staff in the Office of General Counsel who performed administrative assistant functions and were paid by the hour were re-titled as Executive Assistants and paid on a salary basis. No changes were made to their duties, which consisted primarily of administrative, secretarial and clerical duties for attorneys and Law Specialists.

In November 2003, defendant re-titled its Law Specialists I and II, including plaintiff, as Law Specialists I. In addition, it eliminated the Law Specialist III category and retitled Law Specialists III as Senior Law Specialists. In 2004, the Executive Assistants on the Litigation Team were re-titled Law Specialists I but they continued to provide administrative, secretarial and clerical support to Law Specialist I’s who performed ease management duties and to Senior Law Specialists and attorneys. Shortly after retitling the Executive Assistants as Law Specialists I, defendant re-titled Law Specialist I’s who performed case management duties, including plaintiff, as Law Specialists I— Case Managers. In the summer of 2004, defendant eliminated the Managing Law Specialist position and re-titled the only person to hold that position as a Senior Law Specialist. Her duties did not change.

Ml Law Specialists performed their duties under the guidance and supervision of attorneys employed by defendant or the Managing Law Specialist. Defendant required Law Specialists to have a college degree, paralegal education or equivalent experience.

Throughout plaintiffs employment, all Law Specialists were referred to generally as “paralegals,” except that those administrative support staff who were re-titled Law Specialists I in 2004 were referred to as administrative assistants and generally performed secretarial duties. Mthough plaintiffs formal title changed several times during her employment, her primary duties remained the same. As a case manager, she was responsible for processing and monitoring third-party lawsuits submitted by defendant’s credit un[604]*604ion policyholders. Specifically, she received case assignments, summarized case files to determine whether the case was covered by any policy issued by defendant, contacted credit unions to advise whether cases were covered, prepared coverage and denial letters using pre-existing forms, retained outside counsel from a pre-approved list, prepared retained letters using pre-existing forms, established “case reserves” by following verbal directions from supervising attorneys or the Managing Law Specialist and written guidelines, monitored and updated active eases in accordance with defendant’s guidelines, reviewed and discussed outside counsel’s evaluations of cases and recommendations for disposition with supervising attorneys or the Managing Law Specialist, participated in mediations, authorized settlement of cases within prescribed limits, and closed cases in defendant’s database.

All other Law Specialists who managed cases performed the same job duties. The primary difference between Law Specialists who managed cases in plaintiffs classification and Law Specialists with higher classifications is that those with higher classifications handled more complex and higher value cases. Law Specialists rarely if ever interviewed witnesses, inspected property, prepared damage estimates, provided coverage for a lawsuit that had not been reviewed and approved, investigated or determined a party’s liability, determined the total value of a lawsuit, testified on behalf of defendant or an insured or negotiated with opposing counsel or a third-party litigant to resolve a lawsuit. They did not have authority to manage employees or to act as a general manager, business manager or administrator.

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232 F.R.D. 601, 11 Wage & Hour Cas.2d (BNA) 325, 2006 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 3001, 2006 WL 197075, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/austin-v-cuna-mutual-insurance-society-wiwd-2006.