Wilson v. Regions Fin. Corp.

352 F. Supp. 3d 1241
CourtDistrict Court, N.D. Georgia
DecidedAugust 28, 2015
DocketCIVIL ACTION NO. 2:14-CV-00105-RWS
StatusPublished

This text of 352 F. Supp. 3d 1241 (Wilson v. Regions Fin. Corp.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, N.D. Georgia primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Wilson v. Regions Fin. Corp., 352 F. Supp. 3d 1241 (N.D. Ga. 2015).

Opinion

RICHARD W. STORY, United States District Judge *1245This case comes before the Court on Plaintiffs' Motion for Conditional Certification [45], Defendants' Motion for Judgment on the Pleadings [63], Plaintiffs' Motion for Leave to File a Five-Page Sur-Reply in Opposition to Defendants' Rule 12(c) Motion [100], and Plaintiffs' Amended Motion for Leave to File a Sur-Reply [102]. After reviewing the record, the Court enters the following Order.

Background

Plaintiffs bring this putative class action under the Fair Labor Standards Act ("FLSA"), 29 U.S.C. § 201 et seq. , to recover unpaid overtime compensation. Plaintiffs also assert claims under the Georgia Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act ("Georgia RICO"), O.C.G.A. § 16-14-1 et seq. , in which they allege Defendants converted their labor and services through a scheme of theft and extortion. Plaintiffs were employees of Defendants Regions Financial Corporation and Regions Bank.

Defendants provide mortgage-loan services throughout the United States, including at a mortgage-operations center in Gainesville, Georgia, with a satellite location in Cumming, Georgia (collectively, "Gainesville MOC"). (Third Am. Compl., Dkt. [41] ¶¶ 44-47.) Defendants also operate mortgage-operations centers in Alabama, Indiana, Tennessee, Florida, and Mississippi. (Id. ¶¶ 48-51.) Defendants employ individuals to work in three mortgage-related positions at all MOCs: (1) mortgage processor; (2) mortgage underwriter, and (3) mortgage closer. (Id. ¶¶ 52-57.)

The three named Plaintiffs in this action, Betty Wilson, Linda Wick, and Susan Colbert, worked at the Gainesville MOC. (Id. ¶ 60.) At various times from August 2000 until about April 2014, Wilson was employed as either a mortgage processor or mortgage underwriter. (Id. ¶ 62.) From September 2008 until sometime in 2013, Wick worked as a mortgage closer. (Id. ¶ 63.) Colbert was employed as a mortgage underwriter from June 2009 until around March 2014. (Id. ¶ 64.)

Plaintiffs contend that Defendants are employers under the FLSA, Plaintiffs were not exempt employees under the statute, and they were due overtime compensation for hours worked in excess of 40 hours per week. (See id. ¶¶ 68-83.) Moreover, all mortgage processors, mortgage underwriters, and mortgage closers employed at all MOCs in nonsupervisory positions were classified as non-exempt employees under the FLSA. (Id. ¶ 100.)

All employees in these three positions, including Plaintiffs, were eligible for and often paid nondiscretionary production bonuses for meeting production goals. (Id. ¶¶ 102-03.) All employees used an electronic timekeeping system to clock in and clock out each day, including for lunch breaks, at the Gainesville MOC. (Id. ¶¶ 111-13.) At various times since May 20, 2009, Plaintiffs worked in excess of 40 hours in a workweek. (Id. ¶ 115.)

Plaintiffs accuse Defendants of cheating them and other employees at both the Gainesville MOC and other MOCs out of their proper overtime pay in three ways:

(1) Defendants excluded all MOC employees' nondiscretionary bonus payments from the calculation of their regular rate of pay used to compute overtime compensation;
(2) Defendants required Gainesville MOC employees to work off the clock to *1246complete their assigned tasks and refused to pay all overtime hours actually worked; and
(3) Defendants falsified Gainesville MOC employees' actual clock-in and clock-out times to decrease their compensable overtime hours.

(See id. ¶ 65.) Plaintiffs state that Defendants' conduct amounted to a common policy, practice, plan, or scheme. (Id. ¶¶ 131-33.) In view of these allegations, Plaintiffs seek conditional certification of a collective action consisting of three subclasses to recover unpaid overtime.

In addition to seeking recovery under the FLSA, Plaintiffs bring class action claims on behalf of Gainesville MOC employees for violations of Georgia RICO. Plaintiffs allege that Georgia law requires every corporation to pay its employees "the full net amount of wages or earnings due the employees for the period for which the payment is made." O.C.G.A. § 34-7-2(b). But since at least May 20, 2009, Defendants

have systematically taken and converted without justification for their own benefit, and continue to do so, the off-the-clock labor and services of mortgage processors, mortgage underwriters, and mortgage closers at the Gainesville MOC, including [Plaintiffs], in order to decrease compensable hours in excess of 40 in a workweek per employee while still obtaining essentially the same level of employee production.

(Third Am. Compl., Dkt. [41] ¶ 141.)

Plaintiffs maintain that Defendants used economic fear to obtain their labor and services. (Id. ¶ 143.) And by decreasing labor costs, Defendants increased their cash flow to pay dividends to stockholders and to pay principal and interest on outstanding debt. (Id. ¶ 145.) Plaintiffs thus allege that Defendants have engaged in a pattern of racketeering activity by committing criminal acts against its mortgage processors, mortgage underwriters, and mortgage closers at the Gainesville MOC. (Id. ¶¶ 146, 166-74.) These acts include theft of Plaintiffs' services, theft of Plaintiffs' contractually earned straight-time hourly rates, and extortion. (Id. )

Plaintiffs move for conditional certification of the three subclasses described above, while Defendants move for judgment on the pleadings of the Georgia RICO claims contained in Plaintiffs' Third Amended Complaint.

Discussion

I. Motion for Conditional Certification

A. Legal Standard

The FLSA authorizes collective actions, providing, in pertinent part:

An action ... may be maintained against any employer ... by any one or more employees for and in behalf of himself or themselves and other employees similarly situated. No employee shall be a party plaintiff to any such action unless he gives his consent in writing to become such a party and such consent is filed with the court in which such action is brought.

29 U.S.C.

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