Judge Paul Crotty
Broker-dealer Fordham Financial Management is licensed by FINRA. Former stockbrokers Griffith and Speciale charged Fordham’s violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). They claimed they were not paid minimum or overtime wages, and that their wages were improperly deducted. The court granted Griffith and Speciale conditional certification of their FLSA collective action on behalf of all registered stockbrokers employed by Fordham since Feb. 14, 2009. All Fordham stockbrokers had the same job requirements and duties. The court further noted they were paid according to a common scheme and did not receive overtime pay. Their pay was based on commissions received from stock transactions for clients, which were split with Fordham. If stockbrokers did not bring in sufficient business there was no guarantee they would earn the minimum wage, or any wage at all. Although required to work set hours, there was no relationship between stockbrokers’ hours and their compensation. The court deemed premature Fordham’s assertions that Griffith and Speciale actually earned more than the minimum wage, were not the intended beneficiaries of the FLSA’s protections and, as independent contractors were exempt from the FLSA.
