Countrywide Pays $30 Million in Call Center Suit.

Calabasas, CA -- Countrywide Financial Corp. here has settled a class-action lawsuit for $30 million filed by call-center employees who were seeking to be compensated for overtime.

According to a copy of the settlement notice on the website of the attorney for those suing Countrywide, the class consists of approximately 400 people who worked in the company's Pasadena, Calif., and Rosemead, Calif., centers.

Countrywide had called the employees "account executives," but a 2003 press release from the law firm of Goldstein, Demchak, Baller, Borgen and Dardarian said the worker's duties included answering incoming telephone calls, inputting information into the company's computer system, informing customers about loan products, and completing and packaging loan paperwork.

A statement from Countrywide said, "Countrywide's consistent policy has been to classify employees as required by law. While the company continues to believe that its original classification of account executives was lawful and that it would have been upheld at trial, it decided to settle in order to avoid the expense and uncertainty of litigation. This settlement permits both its account executives and managers to focus on their primary concern, providing the best service to the consumer."

The settlement notice itself said that Countrywide continues to deny all of the allegations made in the complaint. "There has been no finding of any wrongdoing by Countrywide and Countrywide does not ...