On September 30, 2019, a former branch manager filed an overtime lawsuit under the Fair Labor Standards Act on behalf of herself and others similarly situated against World Acceptance Corporation (d/b/a World Finance), and WFC Limited Partnership (collectively “World Finance”). The Complaint alleges that World Finance misclassified branch managers as exempt from overtime pay, but that their primary duties of selling loans to low income customers, and then spending hours every day trying to collect on those past due loans, was non-exempt work that made them eligible for overtime pay. The lawsuit seeks to include branch managers from locations across the country, and to recover unpaid overtime compensation, liquidated (double) damages, and other statutorily-permitted relief.
World Finance is one of the nation’s largest small-loan consumer finance companies offering short-term installment loans, medium-term larger installment loans, credit insurance, and tax preparation services, generally serving individuals with limited access to other sources of consumer credit.
Michele Fisher, one of the plaintiff’s attorneys stated, “World Finance branch managers work long hours trying to meet demanding loan sales and debt collection goals set by the company. It is no surprise that so much of their time is spent trying to collect on past due loans, when the company targets low income people who cannot afford the loans they were sold. We intend to hold World Finance accountable for paying its branch managers the overtime compensation they are owed for this work.”
Plaintiffs are represented by Charles Scalise of Ross Scalise Law Group, PC in Austin, Texas, and Michele R. Fisher and Jay E. Eidsness of Nichols Kaster, PLLP, which has offices in Minneapolis, Minnesota and San Francisco, California. The case is entitled, Diaz et. al. v. World Acceptance Corporation (d/b/a World Finance), and WFC Limited Partnership, Case No. 1:19-cv-00957 (Western District of Texas).
Additional information about the case and how branch managers can make a claim can be found at www.nka.com or by calling Nichols Kaster, PLLP toll free at (877) 448-0492.