Judge Refuses to Halt TELG Clients’ Underpayment Case Against Farmers Insurance

A federal judge refused to rule against a group of claims representatives who say they endured years of underpayment by Farmers Insurance Exchange. The reps’ class-action case now will proceed toward trial.

In an order issued on August 20, Judge David C. Norton rejected Farmers’ argument that its former employees were exempt from federal overtime rules: As he noted, the company itself had classified the workers as non-exempt — and now asserted the the opposite.

Judge Norton also said that the claims reps had provided enough evidence to show that they were routinely underpaid, and that Farmers may have permitted the practice. Under such circumstances, he said, Farmers can’t hope to cut the proceedings short.

The Employment Law Group® law firm represents the former employees, who say that Farmers pressured them into working many hours “off the clock” in violation of the federal Fair Labor Standards Act. The case, MacGregor v. Farmers Insurance Exchange, is being heard in the U.S. District Court for the District of South Carolina.