Another Accounting Firm Hit with Overtime Suit

This month another accounting firm faces an overtime challenge, albeit on state law grounds. The fifth largest accounting firm in the United States, BDO Seidman, has had a class action complaint filed against it alleging past and present associate accountants are misclassified as exempt under California law. California law requires that exempt employees exercise or be able to exercise "independent discretion and judgment," but the lawsuit claims the associate accountants are so highly supervised and controlled by licensed accountants that they are not exempt. The case is entitled Nguyen v. B.D.O. Seidman, Case Number SACV07 1252, in the Central District of California.

BDO Seidman joins fellow accounting firms PriceWaterhouse Coopers, Ernst & Young, KPMG, and Delloite & Touche as defendants in overtime cases challenging the classification of accounting associates. The complaint echoes the importance of employers properly classifying employees based on primary duty and any applicable test under the FLSA or state law.

For more on this suit, click here to read the Employment Law 360 article.