A federal court in New York has conditionally certified a national collective action lawsuit accusing KPMG of violating federal labor laws by denying overtime pay to thousands of entry-level audit employees.
The lawsuit was filed last January by a firm, Outten & Golden LLP, which has filed similar lawsuits against Deloitte and PricewaterhouseCoopers, and various other companies and financial services firms. The KPMG lawsuit alleges that the firm misclassified “audit associates” as exempt and did not pay them proper overtime wages in violation of the federal Fair Labor Standards Act and the New York Labor Law. A KPMG spokesman declined to comment.
The court’s certification will allow KPMG audit associates nationwide to join the case and assert their overtime claims. Audit associates from six states—Florida, Nebraska, New Jersey, New York, Texas, and Washington—have joined the case so far, according to the law firm.
“KPMG audit associates work long hours and make big sacrifices for the company,” said attorney Rachel Bien of Outten & Golden LLP in a statement. “The least they should be able to expect is for KPMG to follow the law when it pays them.”
