Court Certifies Unpaid Overtime Case for GEICO Auto-Adjusters-in-Training Represented by Shavitz Law Group and Nichols Kaster, PLLP

    WHITE PLAINS, NY, December 14, 2018 /24-7PressRelease/ -- On December 5, 2018, a New York federal court granted conditional certification of an overtime case for current and former auto damage adjusters nationally who participated in GEICO's auto damage adjuster training program. The trainees allege GEICO violated state and federal law when it limited the amount of overtime it paid for time they spent on mandatory studying and homework assignments during GEICO's 5 to 7-week training course.

The court ordered GEICO to produce a list of current and former auto damage adjuster trainees so class counsel can send them a notice, which advises them of their rights and their ability to make a claim for their unpaid overtime by returning a consent to join form. The notice will be sent to those trainees who attended the auto damage adjuster training during the past 3 years.

Plaintiffs are represented by Gregg Shavitz and Michael Palitz of Shavitz Law Group, and Michele Fisher and Neil Pederson of Nichols Kaster, PLLP. Fisher commented regarding the case, "when an employer has a mandatory training program such as the one GEICO had, it has a legal obligation to ensure it is paying trainees for all time worked, including study time. The training program is known and touted by GEICO as challenging and a tremendous amount of work. With daily tests and quizzes, and high grade point average requirements for successful completion, this demanded more after hours work than GEICO paid. We seek to get these trainees paid for the unpaid hours they worked during this training."

The case is titled Ayala, et al. v. Government Insurance Employees Ins. Co., Case No. 7:18-cv-03583 (S.D.NY.) More information and the sign-up form can be found at www.nka.com.

Nichols Kaster, with more than thirty lawyers in offices in Minneapolis and San Francisco, represents employees and consumers in individual, class, and collective action lawsuits throughout the country. The firm has recently received a First Tier ranking on the 2019 Best Law Firms List in Minneapolis for Litigation-Labor and Employment by U.S. News-Best Lawyers® "Best Law Firms."

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