On January 31, 2017, Real Estate Appraisers for Bank of America Corp. were awarded a 7 million dollar settlement after alleging LandSafe, Inc. and LandSafe Appraisal Services, Inc., and their parent company, Defendant Bank of America Corp., refused to pay them overtime even after a similar case against them for unpaid overtime two years prior settled for 36 million dollars. This lawsuit claimed that Bank of America Corp. refused to change their compensation practices even after the prior lawsuit and did not resolve the claims of all of their appraisers.
The plaintiff in this matter was a Staff Appraiser who worked over 40 hours per week. During days he had scheduled appraisal inspections, he would typically leave his home at 7 AM and then return to his home to write up appraisal reports, and although he would take a dinner break in the evening he would continue to work late into the night until 10 PM or later. When he did not have inspections scheduled, he would write appraisal reports from approximately 8:00 or 8:30 a.m. until late into the evening, again with a break for dinner. The Plaintiff also worked Saturdays and Sundays. This schedule consistently put him over 40 hours a week and was common for all other similarly situated appraisers.
The lawsuit alleged that those in appraiser roles such as Staff Appraiser, Staff Appraiser II, Senior Appraiser, and Residential Appraisers were all supervised and directed as to their work activity as well as disciplined by Defendants through their policies, practices, and supervisors and therefore, should not be considered as exempt from receiving overtime.
If you, or anyone you know holds a real estate appraiser position and has questions about their pay structure, please do not hesitate to call an employment attorney as you may have a wage claim. Fitapelli & Schaffer, LLP offers a free phone consultation with one our experienced attorneys who will help address some of your concerns. You can reach us at (212) 300-0375 or visit our webpage fslawfirm.com for additional information.