DeSimone v. TIAA Bank, FSB

In DeSimone v. TIAA Bank, FSB, former and current mortgage loan officers alleged that the bank misclassified them as exempt from overtime and failed to pay required wages. The bank asked the court to dismiss some state-law claims as too late and to require arbitration of certain claims. The plaintiffs asked to notify and include other similarly situated workers in a collective action under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA).\n\nThe court ruled that some claims were too old to proceed. It applied a two-year limit to the New Jersey and Oregon claims, found that the earlier related case did not extend the time limits for most of the other state-law claims, and rejected the plaintiffs’ unsupported request for extra time based on possible equitable tolling. The court also required arbitration of specified claims involving Gardner, Hussain, and Benner, finding that the agreements were formed, enforceable, and not waived by the bank.\n\nJudge Nathan granted the bank’s partial motion to dismiss and motion to compel arbitration. The court approved conditional certification for Retail Loan Officers but not Branch Sales Managers or Retail Sales Managers, and it barred notice to workers whose claims were time-barred unless equitable tolling applied. The opening portion describes the certification motion as granted in part and denied in part, while the conclusion says it was granted; the analysis limits certification as described above.