PwC Hit With Overtime Lawsuit Wave
With echoes of pending actions against E&Y and KPMG in Canada, PwC has now been served in the first Big 4 suit to make it to the class certification stage, according to the firm representing the plaintiffs, Kershaw, Cutter & Ratinoff.
“A motion that seeks to certify a class of all accounting associates and senior accounting associates was filed in California yesterday against Big 4 accounting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers. The plaintiffs are two former associates who claim PwC owes them overtime and benefits…”
According to CFO.com, “…under California law, only certified public accountants can properly be classified as exempt from receiving overtime.”
“For years, the Big 4 accounting firms have ignored Federal and State laws mandating the payment of overtime to unlicensed accountants,” said Bill Kershaw, the KCR attorney representing the plaintiffs. “This is in stark contrast to smaller accounting firms, many of whom comply with California’s overtime law and pay overtime to their unlicensed associates as non-exempt employees.”
According to another cfo.com article (www.cfo.com/article.cfm/10047863), Deloitte has also been hit with an overtime lawsuit.
For latest developments regarding the PwC unpaid overtime lawsuit, please see article from cfo.com: http://www.cfo.com/article.cfm/10944159/c_10942719. According to that article, the court in that case granted partial class certification.