Cases and Deals
Case

Provident Savings Bank Secures Summary Judgment for Mortgage Underwriters as Exempt Employees

Blank Rome represented Provident Savings Bank in its motion for summary judgment in federal district court on the issue of whether mortgage underwriters are exempt employees under the Fair Labor Standards Act and California law.

The original class and collective action complaint in McKeen-Chaplin v. Provident Savings Bank was filed on December 17, 2012, in the Eastern District of California, and has been ongoing for three years. On February 13, 2015, the parties filed cross-motions for summary judgment directed to the threshold issue of whether the plaintiffs (mortgage underwriters) were properly classified as exempt employees under the administrative exemption.  After multiple rounds of supplemental briefing, the court issued an order on August 12, 2015, denying the plaintiff’s motion and granting Provident’s motion on both the federal and California claims.

The court’s ruling is only the second time a federal court has concluded that mortgage underwriters qualify for the administrative exemption, and the first under California law.

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