– All plaintiff overtime claims rejected by jury –
Detroit, Mich. – March 17, 2011 – After seven years of litigation, Quicken Loans Inc. was vindicated today by a U.S. Federal Court jury who found the company fully complied with all labor laws in its loan officer compensation plan.
The jury unanimously rejected all claims that the plaintiffs were entitled to receive overtime compensation in addition to the salaries and commissions they were paid. The case was brought by Nichols Kaster, a Minneapolis-based law firm that specializes in recruiting financial services professionals to sue their former employers for overtime claims. The firm unsuccessfully attempted to apply a 1930s wage law, originally enacted to protect hard working blue-collar workers, to highly compensated white collar professionals.
In response to today’s ruling, the company issued the following statement:
Quicken Loans is pleased with the jury’s verdict, which validates what we have always maintained: Quicken Loans treats its team members fairly and has always remained in full compliance with all federal labor laws.
We could have settled this lawsuit and avoided an expensive, drawn-out legal battle, but we knew if we fought for what is right that justice would ultimately prevail. Our hope is that today’s victory inspires other job-creating companies to defend against meritless lawsuits which drain wealth and productivity from our society.
Our commitment to treating – and compensating – our team members fairly is a major reason why Quicken Loans has ranked in the “top-30” of FORTUNE Magazine’s list of the “100 Best Companies to Work for in America” the past eight years, and in the “top-15” of Computerworld Magazine’s “100 Best Places to Work in Technology” for six consecutive years.
We are grateful to the members of the jury who evaluated all of the evidence and returned the only verdict possible.
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Note to Editors: Please contact Paula Silver, VP, Corporate Communications at 313/373-7255 or 734/536-1859 for all interview and fact checking requests.
About Quicken Loans Inc:
Quicken Loans Inc. is the nation’s largest online retail mortgage lender and among the five largest overall retail home lenders in the United States. The company closed a record $29 billion in retail home loan volume across all 50 states in 2010, and recently closed its 1 millionth loan. Quicken Loans employs approximately 3,700 team members and generates loan production from five web centers located in Michigan, Ohio and Arizona. The company also operates a centralized loan processing facility in Michigan as well as its San Diego-based One Reverse Mortgage unit. Quicken Loans ranked #1 in customer satisfaction among all home mortgage lenders in the United States by J.D. Power and Associates for 2010. “QuickenLoans.com” has been named “Best of the Web” by Forbes and Money magazines. The company also has been named to FORTUNE magazine’s list of the country’s “100 Best Companies To Work For” eight consecutive years, ranking as high as #2, and named in the top-15 of Computerworld magazine’s “100 Best Places to Work In Technology” for six years in a row. Quicken Loans ranked #1 in the Detroit Free Press’ ‘Top Workplaces of 2010’ List. The company recently moved its headquarters and 1,700 of its 3,700 full-time team members to downtown Detroit. For more information about Quicken Loans, please visit www.quickenloans.com.
About Rock Holdings Inc:
Rock Holdings Inc. is the parent company for several financial services related businesses and employs over 4,000 team members. These client-focused and technologically-driven companies include Quicken Loans, the nation’s largest online home lender and One Reverse Mortgage unit, the fastest growing reverse mortgage lender in America; Title Source, a nationwide leader of title insurance and settlement services; Quicken Loans Mortgage Services (QLMS), a mortgage origination platform servicing community banks and credit unions across the country; In-House Realty, the preferred real estate partner of Quicken Loans that matches clients with trusted real estate agents in all 50 states; and, Quizzle.com, the online innovator and website where consumers manage their home, money and credit. Rock Holdings, Inc. also recently moved its headquarters to downtown Detroit.