According to litigation filed in a federal Georgia court, EPM "willfully" violated federal and state laws by not compensating underwriters who worked over 40 hours weekly.

It allegedly misclassified underwriters as exempt from coverage of the overtime provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act and New Jersey Law, the complaint filed April 7 said.

Plaintiff Shameen Brown, who worked as an underwriter at EPM from March to September 2023 in New Jersey and from October 2023 to 2024 in Florida, is asking the court to certify the litigation as a class action, claiming that 50 or more underwriters were affected by the company's alleged practice. Brown claims that she typically worked 60-hour work weeks during her employment at EPM.

"Defendant's conduct was knowing, willful, carried out in bad faith, and caused significant damages to Plaintiff, the FLSA Collective members and the New Jersey Class in an amount to be determined at trial," the complaint reads. "Equity Prime's unlawful conduct has been widespread, repeated, and consistent."

Brown is asking for the Georgia court to award her and the hypothetical class unpaid wages for all hours worked in excess of 40 in a workweek at a rate of time and one-half of the regular rate of pay. 

EPM did not immediately respond to a request for comment Monday.

The FLSA, a Great Depression-era law, mandates minimum wage and overtime compensation requirements by employers. Per the FLSA, employers must compensate workers for each hour worked, along with overtime pay equal to 1.5 times the regular rate of pay every hour worked beyond 40 hours per week.

Swaths of lenders have been hit by suits lodged by former staff for alleged FLSA violations. Megalenders like Crosscountry Mortgage, Fairway Independent Mortgage, Freedom Mortgage and many others have been sued for such practices. 

Alongside some lenders accused of failing to pay OT, some of these suits allege that companies also failed to compensate remote employees for tools that were required to do their job.

Litigation against lenders has been predominantly lodged by originators or operations staff. Settlements for OT-related litigation are rarely publicized, though a few rare examples show they can be hefty. United Wholesale Mortgage paid $2.75 million in 2022 settling an overtime claim with account executives. Meanwhile, Better in 2023 paid a former underwriter $14,000 after she sued the lender the year prior.