In recent news, a lawsuit was filed alleging Liberty Reverse Mortgage/Ocwen engaged in labor law violations.

The Case: Michaela Lanere v. PHH Mortgage Corporation d/b/a Liberty Reverse Mortgage, Ocwen Financial Insurance Services, Inc., Ocwen USVI Services, LLC, and Liberty Home Equity Solutions

The Court: Sacramento County Superior Court of the State of California

The Case No.: 24CV001137

The Plaintiff: Lanere v. PHH Mortgage Corporation

The plaintiff in the case, Lanere, filed a class action complaint alleging that the company, Liberty Reverse Mortgage/Ocwen, failed to provide her and other employees in similar situations with timely, off-duty meal breaks and rest periods.

The Defendant: Lanere v. PHH Mortgage Corporation

The defendants in the case are PHH Mortgage Corporation d/b/a Liberty Reverse Mortgage, Ocwen Financial Insurance Services, Inc., Ocwen USVI Services, LLC, and Liberty Home Equity Solutions (aka Liberty Reverse Mortgage/Ocwen). According to the court documents, the defendants face numerous labor law violation allegations, including:

Failing to pay minimum wages
Failing to pay overtime wages
Failing to provide meal and rest periods
Failing to reimburse workers for required business expenses
Failing to provide wages when due
Failing to provide accurate itemized wage statements

According to the complaint, rigorous work schedules prevented Liberty Reverse Mortgage/Ocwen employees from taking their off-duty rest breaks, and they were not fully relieved of duty during their rest periods. California employers are required by labor law to provide their employees with a minimum number of rest periods depending on the number of hours worked. When employees do not receive their rest breaks and meal periods as designed by labor law, their employer must provide compensation in the place of the missed break.

How Much Time Should California Employees Get for a “Break?”

According to California labor law, non-exempt employees should be offered a minimum 30-minute meal break if they work more than five hours a day and a second meal break if they work over ten hours. California employees are entitled to 10-minute rest periods for every four hours they work. Failure to provide these breaks entitles the employee to one additional hour of pay at their regular rate for each workday that the meal or rest period is not provided.

The Case: Lanere v. PHH Mortgage Corporation

The plaintiff alleges that the company sometimes required employees to work more than four hours without being provided with a 10-minute rest period due to overassigning job duties and understaffing. Employees who did not receive their breaks were allegedly not provided the additional one hour of compensation per day as required by law. The class action lawsuit, Lanere v. PHH Mortgage Corporation, is currently pending in the Sacramento County Superior Court of the State of California.

If you have questions about filing an employment law lawsuit, please get in touch with Blumenthal Nordrehaug Bhowmik DeBlouw LLP. Experienced employment law attorneys are ready to assist you in various law firm offices in San Diego, San Francisco, Sacramento, Los Angeles, Riverside, and Chicago.