WaMu Faces Suit on Alleged Overtime Pay Violations.

SEATTLE -- Washington Mutual Inc. here, the nation's third largest servicer and originator of home loans, is the latest mortgage lender to be sued over alleged violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act.

The case was filed by three former employees of the company in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District in Brooklyn. The attorneys involved are Nichols Kaster & Anderson PLLP of Minneapolis and Outten & Golden LLP of New York. Nichols Kaster & Anderson has a website (www.overtimecases.com) that lists 10 other active cases against nine mortgage lenders.

Alan Gulick, a spokesman for WaMu, said the company has not yet seen the lawsuit so it was unable to comment on the specifics. "However, we believe our compensation practices are fair and ethical and we will vigorously defend our company against the allegations made."

The three plaintiffs in the case are Dewone Westerfield, of Grand Rapids, Mich., who worked in the Chicago office; Charlotte Machado of Trussville, Ala., who worked in the Modesto, Calif., office; and Patricia Kemesies, of East Islip, N.Y., who had been a home loan consultant in the Hauppauge, N.Y., office.

Their attorneys claim the three worked in excess of 40 hours a week with no overtime. If the loans they handled were not approved, the plaintiffs claim they received no pay for the long hours they worked, and this practice violates the minimum-wage provisions of FLSA.

Jack A. Raisner, an attorney with Outten & Golden, said, "The law does not allow employers to avoid ...