Tax Professionals Sue H&R Block For Failure to Pay Wages for Mandatory Training

Lear Werts LLP and our co-counsel Stueve Siegel Hanson LLP filed a lawsuit on January 25, 2010 against H&R Block seeking to remedy the company-wide policy of not paying its tax professionals for the required 24 hours of training after the completion of a tax season to be eligible to prepare tax returns for H&R Block clients during the next tax season.

Summary of Lawsuit

The lawsuit alleges that H&R Block's refusal to pay its tax professionals for this mandatory training between tax seasons violates the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). The lawsuit was filed as a nationwide collective action, which means that other similarly-situated H&R Block tax professionals may be eligible to join the lawsuit and seek their unpaid wages.

The lawsuit alleges that it is estimated that H&R Block employs more than 100,000 tax professionals each year to prepare tax returns for H&R Block clients. A vast majority of H&R Block tax professionals prepare tax returns for clients during consecutive tax seasons and are believed to be subject to H&R Block's pay policy challenged in the lawsuit. Federal law may permit these H&R Block tax professionals to recover, among other things, unpaid wages for these 24 hours of mandatory training, plus an equal amount for liquidated damages, attorneys' fees and litigation costs. Unpaid wages can be sought for the past two- or three-year period from the date the employee joins the case, depending on whether H&R Block's alleged violation of the FLSA is deemed willful.

Bradford Lear and Todd Werts of Lear Werts LLP and George Hanson and Todd McGuire of Stueve Siegel Hanson LLP and are representing the H&R Block tax professionals in the lawsuit, which was filed on January 25, 2010 in the United States District Court for the Western District of Missouri, Western Division, Case No. 4:10-cv-00075-DGK.

Relevant Documents

Click here to view a copy of the Complaint.

How To Join This Lawsuit

If you worked as an H&R Block tax professional during the last three years and were required to complete unpaid, mandatory training between tax seasons, you may be eligible to join this lawsuit and seek unpaid wages.

Please visit our Contact Page to describe your situation in a contact request form. The completed form will be sent via email directly to the lawyers at Lear Werts LLP and one of the attorneys will contact you to schedule a free consultation about joining this lawsuit. Otherwise, please contact Todd Werts or Brad Lear at 1-877-875-1991, or George Hanson or Todd McGuire at 1-800-714-0360.

News Coverage

Click here to read a 01/26/2010 article in the Columbia Daily Tribune.