Progressive Sued For Not Paying Overtime to Auto Appraisers

It has been a while since we’ve seen a major insurance company sued by its automobile damage appraisers for overtime.  The last few to hit the Courts of Appeals resulted in rulings against them.  Progressive Casualty Insurance Company was just sued last week by two automobile damage appraisers who claim that they, and all other MRRS (Progressive calls them “managed repair reps” or “MRRs;” they are also called "Claims Adjusters -- Auto Damage") should have been paid overtime when they work more than forty hours per week.

There is a very informative post on this topic by Richard Hayber of Hartford.  The general rule seems to be that automobile damage appraisers whose primary duty is to prepare damage estimates and reach an agreed price with the auto-body shop are entitled to overtime pay.  When the auto appraisers spend time negotiating with the insured over the value of a totaled vehicle, their duties start to look more like claims adjusters (who usually don’t get overtime pay). 

This latest lawsuit quotes from job postings which list the duties of the position.  Those duties do not include negotiating overt total losses.  The case is being handled by the Hayber Law Firm in Hartford.  It asserts only the Fair Labor Standards act.  This law gives other employees the chance to join the case just by signing a Consent Form and filing it with the court. 

This case will be worth watching.  Earlier decisions in the District of Connecticut were favorable to automobile damage appraisers, including Reich v. AIAC in 1994 (summary judgment for the appraisers), and Neary v. Metropolitan Property and Casualty Company in 2007 (defense motion for summary judgment denied).