Free Brief in Support of Motion - District Court of Colorado - Colorado

Case 1:03-cv-02485-MSK-PAC

Document 339-16

Filed 01/31/2006

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1

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLORADO

2 3

CAMILLE MELONAKI S -KURZ,

4 INDIVIDUALLY AND ON BEHALF OF OTHER SIMILARLY SITUATED 5 EMPLOYEES,
6

Plaintiffs,
o 3 - MK - 2 4 8 5

7 -vs- CIVIL ACTION NO.
8 HEARTLAND HOME FINANCE, INC.,
9

Defendant.

10 11
12

RULE 30 (b) (6) DEPOSITION OF DONALD FLYNN

13

1 4 The R u 1 e 3 0 (b) (6) de p 0 sit ion up 0 nOT ale x ami n a t i on
of DONALD FLYNN, a witness produced and sworn before
15m e, Vi c tor i as. S t u art, RP R , Not a r y Pub 1 i c i n and for

the County 0 f Mar ion, S tat e 0 fIn d i ana, ta ken on be h a 1 f

16 of the Plaintiffs, at the offices of Ice Miller, 3400
One Am e r i can S qua r e , I n d i a nap 0 lis, Mar ion, In d i a n a ,on

17 the 8th day of April, 2004, at 9:00 a.m., pursuant to the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure with written 18 notice as to time and place thereof.
19

20
21 22

23

John E. Connor & Associates, Inc.
2 4 1860 One American Square

Indianapolis, IN 46282
2 5 (317)236-6022

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And 3 0 (b) (6) i s w ha t the y c all a cor po rat e

2 3
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representative deposition~

And as I understand it,

you i re being produced today to respond to some of
these questions.
MR. LUKAS:

5
6 7
8

And maybe I could turn to Mr. Carr

and ask him which ones he would be responding to?
MR. CARR:

Yes, Mr. Lukas,

I i II be happy to
Mr. Flynn will be

answer that question for you.

9

responding to items number one; two; three; four;
five; somewhat to eight, along with Ms. Schuster;

10
11 12

somewhat as to 10, along with Ms. Schuster, 11, and

12.
Q

13
14

Well, you might be in that chair for a while. So
if you need to take a break, you let me know.

15

Let's start at the top. Let's start with

16
17

number one.
A
Q

Is Heartland Home Finance, Inc. the

proper defendant in this case?
I believe so.

18

19 20

Is Heartland Home Finance, Inc. the plaintiff's

employer?
A
Q

21
22

Former employer.
Former employer; right?

23
24

A

I believe that Heartland Home Finance, Inc. is the
plaintiff's former employer.

25

Q

Okay.

And what business is Heartland Home Finance,

'Flyn 1 Dep.

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Inc. in?

2 A Heartland Home Finance sells consumer mortgages,
3
4

both first and second mortgages, directly to

consumers. We are a mortgage broker and a mortgage

5

banker.
and a banker?

6 Q And can you tell me the difference between a broker
7

8 A I believe a mortgage banker closes loans in their
9 own names and uses their funds to fund the loan,

10 where a mortgage broker may be engaged to close

11 loans in other lender's names, versus not using
12 their own name, and not using their own funds.

13 Q Roughly, what percentage of Heartland's business is
14 broker business?

15 A Currently, He~rtland is doing about 40 percent, 16 approximately 40 percent broker business, and 17 60 percent through its banking operation. 18 Q And hav~ those percentages generally stayed the

19 same the last three years or so?
20 A No, they have not.
21 Q How have they changed?

2 2 AWe - - 0 v e r the 1 a s t t h r e eye a rs , we co u 1 d h a v e bee n

23 as high as 90 percent broker, and 10 percent
24
\

banker.

25 Q And why the change?

Flyn 1 Dep.

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1 in the past.
2 Q And with respect to loan officers, do the loan

3 officer's job -- is the loan officer's job any
4 different when you're talking about jumbo or
5 conforming/jumbo loans versus sub-prime loans?

6 A They are very similar.
7 Q And how about when you're talking about whether it
8 was a broker deal versus a banker deal, do their

9 job duties change at all?

10 A They are very s imi lar.
11
12

Q And we will get to that.
while it was on my brain.

I just wanted to ask that

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14

Other than the brokering and banking of loans,
is Heartland in any other business?

15 16
1 7

A No.

Q And how long has Heartland been in business?
A I believe 1987.
Q What were they called in 1987, do you remember?

18

19

A I was not employed with them at that time, but I
believe it was Heartland Mortgage.

20 21
22

Q Has Heartland always been in the name?

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24
(

A Yes. Q How long have you been with Heartland? A Approximately eight years.

25

Q And just so I'm clear, what is your current job
Flyn 1 Dep.

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title?

2 A My position at Heartland is executive vice
president. 4 Q And have you been an executive vice president the
3
5

entire eight years?

6 A Yes, I have been.
7 Q And to whom do you report?

8 A Jay Dunsing is the president of the corporation.
9 Q And to whom does Mr. Dunsing report?

10 A There is no other report. 11 Q Is there a board of directors?
12 A Ye s, the r e i s . 13 Q Who is on the board? 14 A Don Flynn -- Donald Flynn, Jay Dunsing, and Charles
15

Baker.

16 Q What is Mr. Baker's job title, if he has one with
1 7

Heartland?
Finance, Inc.
-,

18 A He does not have a position with Heartland Home
19

20 Q Does he have employment outside of Heartland?

21 A Yes, he does.
22 Q And what is that?
23
24
\

A Ron -- Charles Baker also goes by Ron Baker.
his position is president of Active Response

And

25

Marketing.
Flyn 1 Dep.

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1 Q Does Heartland do business with Active Response 2 Marketing?

3 A Yes, we do.
4 Q And in what way?

5 A The telemarketing -- we obtain telemarketing leads
6 through Active Response Marketing. In addition,

7 the y a 1 s 0 coo r din ate the d i s t r i hu t ion 0 fIn t ern e t
8 leads to Heartland Home Finance.

9 Q Then as executive vice president, who reports to

10 you directly?
11 12 13
14
A
Q

At this time~ Craig Castelein.
Can you spell Mr. Castelein' s last name?

A

I prefer to get the actual spelling.
to make a mistake.

I don't want

15 16
1 7

Q

She can come back.
out here.

I was just trying to help her

She'll ask you on a break, I'm sure.

A
Q

Okay.
What is Mr. Castelein's job title?

18

19

A
Q

Director of sales.
Does anyone else report directly to you?

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21 22 23
24
\,

A
Q

Yes.
Who?

A
Q

That would be Tom Knowlton.

And what is Mr. Knowlton's job title?
He is the manager of our headquarters staff.
Flyn 1 Dep.

25

A

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Q Where is your headquarters?
A We are headquartered in Cleveland, Middleburg
Heights, Ohio, as well as Downers Groveí Illinois.

2 3
4

Q And is Mr. Knowlton in charge of the staff at both

5
6 7 8

locations?
A No, he is in charge of the staff in Cleveland, in
Middleburg Heights, Ohio.

Q Is this near Cleveland?

Is it a suburb of

9

Cleveland?
A It is considered Cleveland.
Q Is it okay if I call it Cleveland?

10 11
12

A Tha tis fin e .
Q Who else reports directly to you?
A Other direct reports would be Ron Zawadzski.

13
14

15 16
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Q We're going to need help on that one~ I'm sure.
What is his job title?

A Policy and compliance manager.

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19

Q And anyone else that reports directly to you? A That would be all.
Q Okay.
A We have regional managers Who reports

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21
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directly to Mr. Castelein?
that report to Craig

Castelein.
Q How many?
A I bel i eve currently, there ares eve n p e 0 pIe t hat

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(

\,

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report to Craig Castelein.
Flyn 1 Dep.

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Q

Seven regional managers?

2

A
Q

Yes.
Any job title other than regional manager that
reports to Mr. Castelein?

3
4

5
6
7 8

A
Q

Kelly Millhorn.

That a male or female?
That is a female.

A
Q

What is Ms. Millhorn

9

A
Q

Millhorn.

10
11 12

Millhorn? What is Ms. Millhorn's job title?
I don't know exactly what her title is.

A
Q

What does she do?
She is Craig Castelein' s assistant.

13
14

A
Q

Anyone other than the seven regionals and
Ms. Millhorn that report to Mr. Castelein?

15

16
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A
Q

That's all that I'm aware of.
Let i s follow this sort of chain of command down the

18

pipe, then.

Who reports directly to the regional

19

managers?
A
Q

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21
22

The branch sales managers.

And how many of them are those
How many of those are there, I guess is what I

23
24
(

meant to say.
A

There, I believe, are currently 49 branch sales

25

manager.
Flyn 1 Dep.

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1 Q And the n , 0 the r than the s e bra n c h s ale sma nag e r s ,
2

is there anyone else that reports to these -directly to these regional managers?

3

4 A Not that I'm aware of. 5 Q And then who reports directly to the branch sales
6 7
8

manager?

Now, I assume, if we i re at the branch

sal e s manager 1 eve l, now you're tal ki ng about

individual branch sales locations; is that right?

9 A Correct.
10 Q And then, would it be fair to say that the branch
11
12

sales manager is responsible for that operation,

each branch location?

13 A Yes.

14 Q And who reports to the branch sales manager? 15 A The normal branch office will have loan officers,
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processors, a sales assistant, and possibly a

receptionist.
these branch offices?
-

18 Q And what is the average number of loan officers in
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20 A The average number of loan officers would beapproximately five. 22 Q And what would be the average number of processors?
21

23 A One.

24 Q And generally one sales assistant?
(

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A One sales assistant per location, normally.
Flyn 1 Dep.

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1 A The legal function for Heartland Home Finance ls
2

not in Cleveland.

3 Q They are in Downers Grove?

4 A The legal function for Heartland would be in
5

Downers Grove.

6 Q And if we go to these individual branch office
7 8

locations, these roughly, 49 of those, we i re not
going to find any HR people there; is that right?

9

A There
manager.

you would not -- the person in charge of

10
11
12

human resources for a branch would be the branch

Q Right.

And there are -- no one is from the legal

13

department at any of those branch locations?

14 A There is no one from the legal department at the
branch locations. 16 Q And there is no one from the payroll department in
15
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any of these branches?

18 A Payroll actually originates in the branch office.
19

The manager is responsible for the payroll
computations to the branch office.

20
21
22

Q Right.

And they forward those computations on to

payroll in Cleveland; right?

23 A That would be -- yes, they would forward the
24
(

information in to Cleveland.

\

25

Q Okay.

Does Heartland Home Finance or any of its
Flyn 1 Dep.

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sales group.

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Q So what do the loan officers actually do, in order
to try to accomplish these individual goals?

A Their day-to-day responsibilities?
Q Yes.
A Their normal day-to-day responsibilities would
include following up leads that were initiated by

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6
7
8

the telemarketing department, by the Internet.
That would -- part of their day ls selling to those

9

10 11
12

leads and part of their day is doing the

a dm in i s t rat i ve fun c t ion to c 1 0 s e - - tog e t tho s e
loans ready to close, through either brokering or
through our mortgage banking grbup.
Q Let's talk -- let i s kind of walk through a, you say

13
14

15 16
1 7

they have to follow up on these telemarketing

leads. How do they receive the leads, first of all? Let's talk about the telemarketing leads
first. How does the loan officer actually receive
a lead?

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19

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21 22

A All of the leads in the branch office are
distributed by the branch manager to the loan

23
24

officers. Q And are they distributed on paper, or are they
distributed through the computer system?

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A It is all on paper.
Flyn 1 Dep.

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i Q And so, it is up to the individual branch manager

2 to decide who gets what lead?
3 A It would be up to the individual branch manager to

4 determine who gets which leads.

5 Q And are the leads ranked in any way, wi th
6
7 8

respect

I know some companies have sort of a

hot, warm, cold lead, red, blue, yellow, or -- is there any kind of coding, or is every lead just a

9

lead?

10 A There is really -- no, they are all on paper, and
11 none of them are on different colored paper or. 12 Q So there is no differentiation, at least with

13 respect to how the leads come into the branch
14 manager, with respect to every lead is pretty much

15 the same at that point?
16 A The leads are broken down by the states that the

17 branch is approved to do business in.
18 Q So that branch manager gets the leads from -- or 19 gets leads based on where those people are from, in
20 21
other words, they get the leads from the people
they can s ell to, bas ical 1 y; right?

22 A Yes, that would be correct. 23 Q And then the branch manager distributes the leads
"\

24 to the loan officers; right? 25 A Yes, he does.
Flyn 1 Dep.

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1 Q And then the loan officer takes the lead, and what
2

does the loan officer do?

3 A We would hope the loan officer really is in
4 total control of their day. We would hope that
5 they would prepare the lead, to make a phone call
6
7

and call the customer, either at their home, work,
or at time s, the re is a cel lul ar phone numbe r

8 listed, and present to them programs that may
9 benefi t the consumer, and wi th the end resul t being

10 the taking of a credit application.
11 Q When you say prepare a lead, how would a loan

12 officer prepare a lead?
13 A One of the ways that they should be taught by the 14 branch manager on how to prepare a lead is based on 15 the training manual that we have. 16 Q And this training manual, is it something that is
1 7

used nationwide or system-wide?

18 A It ls described to the branch managers, and each

19 branch manager utili zes it as they see fi t.

20 MR. LUKAS: Will you mark this section.
21 Q The company does not have more than one training
22

manual?
A We have not -- the company has not produced more
than one training manual.

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24
\.

25

Q Does the company have a kind of an orientation
Flyn 1 Dep.

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program for loan officers?

A Part of the orientation program for the loan
officers is the first section of the training

3
4

manual.

5
6 7

Q So they prepare the lead as directed by the
training manual, then, what, then they make the

phone call?
MR. CARR:

8 9
i 0

Objection to the form of the

question.

You are free to answer.

A I have found in branch offices that in many
cases -- it is up to the loan officer to prepare
the lead, and I have found that they don't always

ii
i 2

i 3

prepare for the phone call.
Q Sometimes they just pick up the phone and call, is
that what you're saying?

i 4

i 5

i 6

A Sometimes they just pick up the phone and call, and
sometimes they don't pick up the phone and call.

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Q That would really be a problem. But if they're
following the training manual, they would prepare
the lead, and then they would make the phone call;

i 9

20
2 i

correct?

22

A That is not correct.
Q What would they do?
A They follow the directions of the branch manager,
not -- the training manual

23
24
K,

25

is simply a tool that
Flyn 1 Dep.

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1

the branch office is given.

They should follow the

2

directions of the branch manager.

3 Q i see. So the branch manager has the authority to

4 take the training manual and throw it in the
5
6

dumpster, and do whatever he wants, tell the loan
officers to do whatever they want?

7 A That's -- I would not say -- that is not an
8

accurate portrayal of what a branch manager is free

9 to do wi th the training manual.

10 Q What is a branch manager free to do wi th the
11

training manual?

12 A It is a tool designed to increase sales and
13
14

production.

And different managers use it in

different ways.

15 Q Do branch managers have the authority to not use it

16 at all?
17 A I have found that some branch managers don't

18 utilize the tiaining manual as it was designed.

19 Q Is that a problem?
20 A It can be a problem.
21 Q In fact, a branch manager can be disciplined for
22 not using the training manual

as designed?

23 A Branch manager
24

MR. CARR:

Object to the form of the question.

25

You're free to answer.

Flyn 1 Dep.

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MR. LUKAS:

Go ahead, sir.

2 3
4

A Branch managers, I believe, have been disciplined
for not utilizing the training manual

5
6 7 8 9

appropriately. Q And do branch managers have a job' description? A Yes, branch m~nagers have a job description.
Q And do you maintain that job description, as well?

A I maintain that job description, as well.
MR. LUKAS: Will you mark this section.
Q And when is the last time you r~vised it?
A I don i t believe that the branch manager i s duties

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11 12 13
14

and re spons ibi 1 i tie s have been revi sed since it was

created. Q How about the training manual, has it been revised
in the last three years?

15 16
1 7

A The t r a i n i n g man u a 1 ha s not bee n rev i sed in the
last three years.

18

Q Who is responsible for maintaining the training
manual?
A Currently, that responsibility would rest on me.

19

20
21 22

Q You have got a lot to do.
Okay. So let's say they do m~ke the phone
call. What do they do on the phone call?

23
24
\

A We would hope that the loan officer, when they
would make the phone call, would present products
Flyn 1 Dep.

25

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and programs that would benefit the consumer.

2

Q And how would the loan officer know what products
and programs were available to offer?

3
4

5 6
7 8 9

A By having trained wi th the branch manager. Q And I think you said that the next step in this process would be the taking 'of a credit
application; is that correct?

A We would hope the next step would be, when talking
to the customer, would be to take an application,

10 11
12

yes.

QOkay.

And is the application process in a computer

system, or is that paper, as well?

13
14

A Yes, it ls on the computer, as well as on paper.

Q So it is in both places?
A If you -- most applications are taken on paper.

15 16
17

Q And then they are transferred to the computer

s y s tern; i s th a t right?

18

19
20
21
22

A Yes. Q And would it be the loan officer iS responsibili ty
to transfer the information they have taken and put

on the paper application to the computer system?

A It -- I would like to clarify that there is -- the
computer system, it would be a computer with a

23
24
,í

program.

I t wo u 1 d not be n e c e s s a r i 1 yaw ide r 10 c a 1
When you say system, it would be an
Flyn 1 Dep.

\

25

area network.

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manager at that point?
A Some -- I r m sure some loan officers are, and some

2

3
4

are not.
Q Does the training manual tell them to bring it to
the manager at that point?

5
6
7

A I believe it does.
Q So what do they bring to the manager?

8 9

A They should bring the application to the branch
manager, wi th a recommenda t i on on wha t they would

10
11
12

like to accomplish for the client.

Q Is there a form that's used for this procedure?

A I think that one of the forms that might be used
would be a form that is referred to as a Bill
Payer, or a homeowner loan proposal.

13
14

15

Q Is the Bill Payer and this homeowner loan proposal,
are those two different forms, or are they the same
form, just called different things?

16
1 7

18

A I think they are very similar forms called
different things.

19

20 21
22

Q And who maintains those Bill Payer or homeowner
loan proposal forms?

A Tha t would be the branch manager.
Q So each branch manager is responsible for drafting
and creating their own Bill Payer/homeowner loan

23
24
(,

25

proposal?
Flyn 1 Dep.

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1 AWe h a ve s 0 mer e co mm end e d for m s t hat the y use, but
2 we have found that most offices, whether they are
3
4

the managers or the loan officers, adapt them to
what they consider their needs are.

5 Q Is there a Bill Payer or homeowner loan proposal
6

form contained in the training manual?

7 A I believe there is.
8

MR. LUKAS:
Q

Mark this section.

9

Okay. So they hopefully fill out their Bill Payer

10
11
12
A

or homeowner loan proposal. They bring it to the
branch manager, and then what happens?
They ma ke thei r recommenda t ions to the manager on

13
14

why that program would be advantageous to the

consumer.
Q

15

16
17

A

18

19

broker the loan.

And in some cases, that would be

20
21 22 23
24
(\

several different places, or both Heartland and
they take it where they want.
Q

And who decides where it goes?
The loan officer.

A

Q i see. So the branch manager has no authori ty to
tell the loan officer, no, I think you should do it

25

Flyn 1 Dep.

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this way, and send it to this place; ls that your

2 3
4

testimony?

A Some branch managers manage their branches
differently than others, would be my testimony.

5 6 7
8

Q How does -- what does Heartland Home Finance
r e c 0 mm end hap pen s wit h res p e c t tow hod e c ide s w hat

loans go where?

A If the programs if we offer the programs, we ask
that they bring it to our Heartland Home Finance.
However, we have found that most loan officers,' in

9

10
11 12

the past, take it where they would like to see the

loan close. They have flexibility.

13
14

Q So a loan officer -- first of all, so the contents
of the training

manual are optional for a loan

15

officer; is that your testimony?

16
17

MR. CARR: Obj ection to the form of the

question.

You i re free to answe r.

18

A The training program is a tool that was designed to
be utilized by the manager to increase

19

20 21
22

producti vi ty.
Q So a loan officer can sell a loan to whoever they
want, at any time, in the Heartland Home Finance
system; is that right?

23
24
'\, .

A Until recently, as of, as I state, February 1st,

25

they were closing loans wherever they wanted. And
Flyn 1 Dep.

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compensation plan?
A They are all -- loan officers are paid under the

same compensation plan.

Q And all loan officers nationwide are subject to the
same employee policies and procedures -- or

5
6 7 8

employeè handbook; is that right?

A Yes, they are.

Yes, they are.

Q And there is one job description nationwide for
loan officers; correct?

9
i 0

A That would be correct.
Q And the job qualifications when you're advertising
for a loan officer is the same nationwide; correct?

ii
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i 3

i 4

A I'm sorry, could you repeat the question? Q Sure. Job qualifications for loan officers is the
same nationwide?

i 5

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A The branch managers review the individual
qualifications, and hire them based on if they
think the yw ill be a good fit in their branch.

1 7

i 8

i 9

Q So is it your testimony that Heartland Home Finance
has no direction to branch managers, wi th respect

20
2 i

to job qualifications for loan officers?

22

A We have some recommenda tions of wha t we have found
to be the right qualifications for loan officers.

23
24
\\

The manager's responsible to hire the people they
feel will best enhance their operation.

25

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65

1 Q Does Heartland Home Finance maintain a job
2

qualification description for loan officers?

3 A We do not.
4 Q Does Heartland Home Finance advertise on
5
6

monster. com or any of the other on-line employment

services? 7 A We use monster. com to pull résumés off the system,
8

over the last 12 months.
Q

9

But you don't post on monster.com?
I do not know if we post on monster.com.

10
11 12

A
Q

Who would know?
Tom Knowlton.

A
Q

13
14

Let's talk about the compensation for loan

officers.

You said there is one compensation plan

15

for loan officers nationwide; correct, we have
already covered that?
A
Q

16
1 7

Yes.
And who is responsible for maintaining that
compensa tion plan?

18

19

20
21 22

A
Q

I don't understand what you mean when you say that.

Does Heartland Home Finance have any written
compensation plan --

23
24
(

A
Q

Yes.
-- for loan officers?

25

A Yes.
Flyn 1 Dep.

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79

1

when they come back, and when they leave for the

2 3
4

day.

Q So there is no time clock, per se? A There is no time clock.
Q But there is a time sheet that they should be
filling in, as they come and go?

5
6 7 8 9

A Yes.
Q And that time sheet ls maintained by the manager,
branch manager?

10 11 12
i
(

A Loan officers and managers maintain that time

sheet.
Q Does the loan officer fill out a separate time
sheet and give it to the branch manager, or is it all on this one, is everybody on this one sheet?

\

13
14

15

A Every loan officer's name is on the same sheet.

16
17
18

Q And is that true nationwide?

A Yes.
Q And then, what if anything doe s the branch manager
do with that time?

19

20
2 i

A I'm s 0 r r y , I don' t u fi d e r s t a nd the que s t ion.

Q Sure.

What does the branch manager do with those

22

time records, if anything?
A "They use it as a tool to moni tor

23
24

there's

production information on it.

They use "'. it as a

25

tool to make sure that the loan officers get up to

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80

i
2

3
4

5
6 7
8

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i 0

1 i

12

13
14

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i 6

1 7

A Yes.
Q What i s the policy?
A The policy is stated in our handbook.
Q And what does

18

19

20
2 i

it say? I haven't seen it yet, so

I'm wondering what it says.

22

A Okay. To the best of my knowledge, it states that
the employees tha t would work -- they're expected

23
24
\ .

to work a 40-hour workweek, and ~f they work
people that are non-exempt that work over 40 hours
Flyn 1 Dep.

25

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81

1

get paid time and a hal f.
MR. CARIl:
For the record, we will be

2
3
4

providing the employee handbook as we continue
forward in the preparation of the production

5 6
7

response, and of course, the document is the best
record of what it contains.
MR. LUKAS:

Grea t .

8 9

Q Who in the system gets paid overtime, if anyone?

A Individuals that are non-exempt that report
overtime in excess of 40 hours during a pay period
would receive overtime.

~-

10 11
12

Q You said that no loan officer has been paid
overtime that you're aware of.

13
14

Are you aware of

any other job category or individual who has been
paid overtime?

15

16
1 7

AYe s , I am.
Q Who?
A There are processing support individuals in banking
that receive overtime.
I believe there are

18

19

20
21
22

underwriters that receive overtime.

There are

receptionists and sales associates and processors
that have received overtime.

23
24
(

Q Are all of those groups that you just named, are
those all overtime-eligible positions at Heartland?

25

A Everybody that is non-exempt would be classified as
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91

A Yes, I believe it was.
Q And was it the local branch that conducted these

investigations?
A I believe it was.
Q Was there ever a national investigation conducted
by the Department of Labor that you're aware of?

A Not tha t I i m aware.
Q What was the conclusion of the St. Louis

investigation? A The conclusion of the St. Louis investigation
indicated that we had employees -- we had a manager

that was working employees more than 40 hours in a

workweek.
Q And what was the consequences of that, if any?

A Even though we don't believe that to be accurate,
we agreed to a settlement that the Department of
Labor agreed to, and employees were compensated.

Q And these were loan officers?
A They were branch office employees.

Q So loan officers and others, more than just loan officers? A Yeah, I actually believe that the only area
that -- I believe it was just loan officers.

Q And as I understand it, there is also a minimum
wage component to the Department's findings; is

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94

1

A We had employees that had approached branch
man age r s s tat i n g t hat, "I a m a co mm i s s ion - 0 n 1 y

2 3
4

employee, and I require more flexibility than what
the company is requesting."

5
6
7

Q What is a time management report?

A The T&A, time absenteeism report?

Q Yeah, time absenteeism report.
A That i s what I refer to the hours that they work
during--the day.

8
9

10

Q Is that the -A The time sheet.
Q -- the time sheet?

11
12

Okay.

Let's move off of
Wha t do you

13
14

St. Louis and go to Dayton, Ohio.

15

16
1 7

18

19

20 21 22

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24
(

25

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1
j,

employees were more than 40, for purposes of calculating whether the minimum wage was met or

2 3

not?
make sure that we were in compliance with their

4 A I believe that the Department of Labor came in to
5
6
7

regulations. Q I'm sure that's true.

My question was:

Was there

8 9

an overtime component to the minimum wage issue in that, in order to determine how much people were

10 being paid by the hour, were they using 40 hours,
11 or were they using more than 40 hours?

12 A I believe that ,they found that we were paying the
13 employees adequately, when it comes to an overtime
14

issue. There was not a problem with overtime in
Dayton, Ohio.

15

16 Q People were not working overtime in Dayton, Ohio?

17 A That's my understanding.
18 Q So how was that Dayton, Ohio i ss ue res olved?
19 A We agreed to the recommendation by the Department

20 of Labor, and compensated the current and former

21 employees that were there.
22 Q What about Aurora, Colorado, what was the
23
24
(\

conclusion of the Department of Labor there?

A The conclusion of the Department of Labor in
Colorado was very similar to Dayton, Ohio.
Flyn 1 Dep.

25

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96

i Q Was there an overtime component in the Aurora
2

investigation?
overtime in Aurora, Colorado.

3 A I believe they didn i t find an issue with the
4

5 Q What, if anything, did Heartland do to address
6 7 8

these minimum wage violations found in Aurora and
)

Dayton?

A What did we do?

I'm sorry.

9 Q Yeah, if anything. 10 A We agreed to the settlement, and paid the employees
11
1.2

what was recommended.

Q Sure.

Did you take any steps, corporate-wide, to

13
14

make sure that there was not a minimum wage
violation in the future?

15 A We addressed it with the regional managers and
16
1 7

branch managers, by phone, as well as I believe
that it was included in meetings the regionals had,
as well as our manager meetings.

18

19 Q You said there was a -- was there some kind of
20 21
22

phone conference with the regional managers?

You

said you addressed it with the regional managers by

phone?

23 A Yes.

24 Q Was this a meeting that you presided over?
'\

25

A I would have presided over that.
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1. Q Where did that take place?

2 A I'm not sure of the date.
3 Q Do you have any documentation of that meeting?
4 A I do not have any documentation of that phone call.

5 Q Is there any documentation of the steps taken by
6

Heartland Home Finance to address these minimum

7 wage issues? 8 AYe s, the rea r e not e s from reg ion a 1 man age r san d
9

10

11
12

13
14
Q

15 16
17

A

18

19

20
21 22

23
24
(

Q

25
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1 2

MR. CARR:

Object to the form of the question.

You i re free to answer.
addressed these issues in regional manager phone
calls, as well as regional manager calls and at,

3 A I thought that I had answered that before, that we
4

5
6 7

you know, our national branch managers meeting.
MR. LUKAS:

Mark this section.

8 Q Who ls the branch manager in St. Louis? 9 A We have -- currently, the branch manager in
1 0 St. Lou is i s Monty Alton.
1 i Q Was Monty Al ton the branch manager in charge when

1 2 the s e 0 v e r time h 0 u r s we r e be i n g r e qui red?
13
14

A At the time that we had the -- there were three
branch managers at that location.

15 16
1 7

Q Who is the branch manager, or who are the branch
man age r s t hat we r ere qu i r i n g 0 v e r t i me h 0 u r s fro m
their loan officers?

18 A I believe at the time, it was Monty Alton and

19 Jason -- I think it is Nahlik.
20 Q The third branch manager was not? 21 A Kelly Ainsworth is the third branch manager, and 22 there were no issues with overtime with her staff.
23
24
(

Q You mentioned manager meetings.
there regional manager meetings?

How often are

25

A Regional manager meetings are called by the
Flyn 1 Dep.