Rocket Mortgage has entered into a settlement agreement with a group of current and former employees who have alleged the company did not provide sufficient overtime pay, according to court documents reviewed by HousingWire and reporting at Bloomberg Law.
In a case filed in January 2023 in the U.S. District Court for the District of Arizona, the employees alleged that they “were not paid one-and-one-half times their regular rates of pay for all time worked in excess of 40 hours in a given workweek,” according to the original legal complaint.
While Rocket attempted to have the case dismissed in December, the presiding judge denied that motion and others that sought a judgment of the pleadings. The judge also certified the class at that point as anyone who worked for Rocket Mortgage LLC or its predecessor, Quicken Loans, for more than 40 hours in any given workweek ”as a past or present mortgage banker or similar title, or who performed the job duties of working with borrowers through loan processing.”
Rocket also sought to have the lawsuit tossed on jurisdictional grounds, saying that the venue in Arizona did not have specific jurisdiction over out-of-state claimants. The judge at that time denied the request based on precedent, saying that similar arguments have not been approved under cited precedents.
Last month, the parties involved participated in a mediation session with a retired judge and reached an agreement. The settlement is not an admission of wrongdoing by Rocket Mortgage, the agreement stated, and the lender continues to deny the allegations or any violations of law. But the company seeks to settle the suit with finality.
Nearly 30% of the $3.5 million settlement will go to cover legal costs. The remaining amount will be distributed based on the net settlement amount divided by the total number of workweeks that eligible class members worked based on Rocket’s records, with all unclaimed settlement funds to be returned to the company. Eligible claimants will receive a minimum payment of $25.
Earlier this month, Rocket entered into a conciliation agreement with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to resolve allegations of discriminatory housing practices
Rocket Mortgage did not immediately respond to a request for comment from HousingWire.
