Class-Action Suit Claims MetLife Failed To Pay $50M In Overtime

MetLife knowingly failed to pay their employees more than $50 million over the last three years, according to a nationwide class action lawsuit filed today. The suit was filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Connecticut by the law firms of Sanford Heisler and Schneider Law Firm.

The lawsuit seeks unpaid overtime wages for claim specialists who worked on long-term disability insurance claims for MetLife and two of its subsidiaries.

Claim specialists gather information from disability claimants, collect medical data, and compile other information required to process disability claims. Lead plaintiff Stephanie McKinney, a former claim specialist, alleged that she and others often had to perform this work outside of office hours. “LTD claim specialists regularly work between 45 and 60 hours per week,” the complain said. Yet, McKinney alleged, for more than three years MetLife hasn’t compensated her and other claim specialists for these overtime hours.

According to the complaint, MetLife used to pay its claim specialists hourly wages and overtime pay. But in November 2013, MetLife “reclassified” these workers and stopped paying them overtime, without any change in their job duties.

MetLife spokesman John Calagna said, "We haven’t had a chance to review the lawsuit and have no comment."