New Jersey Securities Broker Sues Morgan Stanley for Alleged Overtime Pay Violations

Newark, NJA former Morgan Stanley Smith Barney financial adviser recently filed a lawsuit accusing the company of violating federal overtime labor laws, reports The Record.

According to the news source, the overtime pay lawsuit was filed by Nick Pontilena in US District Court in New Jersey on May 31. The suit is the latest to accuse the company of similar violations, the news provider said.

The lawsuit reportedly seeks to gain class-action status in representation of hundreds of current and former Morgan Stanley advisers, according to the news source.

Pontilena claims in his lawsuit that he worked as an "inside sales person" and was paid based on commission without overtime, despite the fact that he often worked more than 40 hours during a week.

According to the Fair Labor Standards Act, overtime pay "at a rate not less than one and one-half times the regular rate of pay is required after 40 hours of work in a workweek."

Court records do not provide any information on when Pontilena worked for Morgan Stanley, but the news source reports that his LinkedIn profile indicates he held a position with the company between 2000 and 2009.

The lawsuit follows a number of similar legal steps taken by previous Morgan Stanley employees including New York native Marisa DePasquale, who claimed she worked 70 hours per week between 2006 and May 2010 without receiving overtime pay, according to the news source.

The lawsuit claimed Morgan Stanley demonstrated an "intentional pattern and practice of making employees work overtime, have them falsely report that [they] were not working overtime, and not pay these employees for hours worked beyond 40 hours a week."

Overtime pay violations are not only occurring in New York and New Jersey, however, as a federal investigation recently forced Valley Baptist Medical Center in Brownsville, Texas, to provide workers with unpaid back overtime.

Local television station KRGV reports that an audit conducted by the US Department of Labor discovered that the hospital had not properly paid employees for overtime they had worked and for meals they had skipped during their work hours.

One worker, who asked the news source not to be identified, explained that hospital management understood the violations were taking place.

"They intentionally removed our way to claim no lunch and made it a hassle to claim no lunch," she told the news source. "I was forced to work my lunch breaks. I had lunch. I ate on the go. We used to have a way to clock out no lunch but then they took it away from us."