In a BLR webinar titled "Exempt or Nonexempt? How To Avoid the Misclassification Mistakes You Simply Can't Afford To Make," Aaron R. Gelb, Esq., used a hypothetical case to illustrate the high stakes of misclassifying employees.
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The plaintiff's attorney hears the employee's story, and concludes, "Well, you were not wrongfully discharged, but I think you may have a lawsuit for unpaid overtime. I believe you were a nonexempt employee."
The employee responds incredulously, "What? How could I? I was a salaried manager."
The plaintiff's attorney answers, "You were not exempt because you did not supervise anyone, and your job did not involve all that much discretion."
With a big Cheshire grin, the plaintiff's attorney then inquires, "There wouldn't happen to be a bunch of other employees in your job classification, would there?"
This is how a large percentage of individual and class action wage and hour lawsuits start. Interviews like these happen every day. Plaintiff's attorneys go through a checklist of potential causes of action with clients and oftentimes discover a potential wage and hour violation. Next thing you know, you're defending against a nationwide or organization-wide class action or Department of Labor (DOL) audit that is costing you, at a minimum, $10,000 a month in legal fees to defend.
Aaron R. Gelb, Esq., is a shareholder at Vedder Price PC and a member of the firm's Labor and Employment Practice Area. Based out of the firm's Chicago office, he represents employers in all aspects of equal employment opportunity, wrongful discharge and labor relations litigation before federal and state courts, federal, state and local fair employment and administrative agencies such as the EEOC, the Department of Labor, and National Labor Relations Board. Gelb also partners with human resources consultants to develop a multi-disciplinary approach that combines the operations expertise of experienced HR professionals with an attorney's legal knowledge to develop real-world solutions in a cost-effective manner. He can be contacted at agelb@vedderprice.com.