Two New Jersey insurance adjusters employed by property and casualty insurer AIG, Inc., have recently filed a collective-action lawsuit under the Federal Fair Labor Standards Act. The FLSA is in place to provide protection for non-supervisors against wage-and-hour abuses.

The suit, brought by Saltz , Mongeluzzi , Barrett & Bendesky P.C. and Sidney Gold & Associates, P.C., contends that AIG intentionally misclassified clerical employees as exempt from federal overtime requirements. A release from the law firm stated that the action was filed in the U.S. District Court for the State of New Jersey and seeks to recover damages for all similarly-situated AIG employees, including unpaid overtime since January 2001, liquidated damages, and interest.

Allstate has dealt with a similar situation when some of its adjusters in California complained that they were denied overtime pay from Nov. 1996 to Dec. 2004. State Farm and Farmers Insurance also have had comparable lawsuits brought against them by adjusters in recent years.

“AIG appears to have knowingly and willfully denied plaintiffs and their colleagues overtime pay for no other reason than to improve its bottom line,” said attorney for the plaintiffs and head of Saltz, Mongeluzzi, Barrett & Bendesky's class action group, David J. Cohen, in a release. “We intend to shed light on AIG's illegal conduct and seek the maximum recovery for its hard working men and women.”

“We believe this action is without merit,” said AIG spokesperson Michael Arcaro. “These job classifications were established with legal advice from outside counsel and explicitly based on the Department of Labor's regulations and opinion letters. As a result, we are confident we exercised proper judgment with respect to the classification of these positions.”

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