Bank of America Settles $4.4M California Wage Theft Lawsuit

Case Background

Andrea Sosa, a former hourly non-exempt employee of Bank of America, filed a class action lawsuit in the Superior Court of California for the County of Los Angeles in June 2022. Sosa worked for the bank from October 2020 and brought claims on behalf of herself and other similarly situated current and former hourly employees who worked at Bank of America locations throughout California.

Cause

The lawsuit stemmed from Bank of America's alleged systematic failure to comply with California labor laws governing wage and hour requirements for its non-exempt hourly workforce. The Plaintiff claimed the bank maintained unlawful policies and procedures that deprived employees of wages they rightfully earned during their employment.

Injury

Sosa and the proposed class members alleged they suffered financial harm through unpaid wages, lost compensation for time worked off-the-clock, denied meal and rest breaks, and unreimbursed business expenses. The Plaintiff contended that Bank of America's practices resulted in employees working more hours than they were credited for and being denied proper compensation for overtime work.

Damages Sought

The Plaintiff sought recovery of unpaid minimum wages, unpaid overtime wages, meal and rest period premium wages, reimbursement for business expenses, statutory penalties for wage statement violations, waiting time penalties, liquidated damages, pre-judgment interest, attorneys' fees, and costs of suit. The complaint also requested injunctive relief to prevent Bank of America from continuing its alleged unlawful practices.

Key Arguments and Proceedings

Legal Representation

Plaintiff: Andrea Sosa, on behalf of herself and others similarly situated

·       Counsel for Plaintiff: Joseph Lavi, Esq | Vincent C. Granberry, Esq. | Danielle E. Montero, Esq.

Defendant: Bank of America National Association

·       Counsel for Defendant: Sabrina A. Beldner, Esq | Andrew W. Russell, Esq | Natalie M. Lagunas, Esq.

Claims

Unpaid Wages for Off-the-Clock Work:

The Plaintiff alleged that Bank of America required remote employees to complete an extensive multi-step VPN login procedure before they could clock in for their shifts. This process involved turning on company-provided laptops, entering login credentials, waiting for the operating system to load, launching the Cisco application, and completing a two-factor authentication process using personal cell phones. Employees were not compensated for this time, which the Plaintiff claimed constituted hours worked under California law.

Time Rounding Violations:

Sosa alleged that Bank of America rounded employee time punches, including meal break punches, to the nearest quarter hour in a manner that systematically benefited the employer and resulted in employees being paid for fewer hours than they actually worked.

Overtime Calculation Errors:

The complaint alleged that Bank of America failed to include certain types of compensation, such as "Emergency Disaster Pay" and "FC Incentive Pay," when calculating employees' regular rate of pay for overtime purposes. This practice allegedly resulted in employees receiving lower overtime pay than they were legally entitled to receive.

Meal and Rest Period Violations:

The Plaintiff claimed that Bank of America's time rounding practices resulted in employees receiving shortened meal breaks. Additionally, when the bank paid premium wages for missed or shortened breaks, it allegedly failed to include all forms of remuneration in calculating the premium payment amount.

Unreimbursed Business Expenses:

Sosa alleged that Bank of America required remote employees to use their personal internet connections and cell phones for work purposes without providing reimbursement for these expenses as required by California Labor Code section 2802.

Defense

Bank of America filed a general denial of all allegations in the complaint. The bank's answer raised 42 affirmative defenses, including failure to state a claim, statute of limitations, failure to exhaust administrative remedies, estoppel, laches, consent, unclean hands, and good faith compliance with the law. The Defendant argued that it acted in good faith and in conformity with applicable regulations and administrative interpretations. Bank of America also contended that the Plaintiff and class members were paid all compensation and benefits to which they were entitled, that meal and rest periods were properly provided, and that any expenses allegedly incurred by employees were not necessarily work-related. The bank further argued that the Plaintiff's claims were barred by various settlement agreements and releases, and that the case was unsuitable for class treatment due to individualized issues.

Settlement

The parties reached a settlement agreement on 10th October 2025, resolving all claims in the class action lawsuit. Bank of America agreed to pay $4,400,000 to settle the wage and hour claims brought by Andrea Sosa on behalf of herself and the class of current and former hourly non-exempt employees. The settlement resolved allegations that the bank failed to properly compensate employees for all hours worked, failed to pay proper overtime wages, denied compliant meal and rest periods, failed to reimburse necessary business expenses, failed to provide accurate wage statements, and failed to timely pay all wages upon separation of employment. The case was assigned to the Honorable Stuart M. Rice in Department 1 of the Los Angeles County Superior Court.

Court documents are available upon request at jurimatic@exlitem.com