A judge has granted class-action status to current and former Wells Fargo tech support workers who say they're owed money for unpaid overtime, according to Finextra, which tracks the financial technology community.

A group of employees filed a complaint in 2008, alleging that they worked on the bank's software and hardware more than 40 hours per week and were not paid for their extra hours.

The law firm representing the class, Lieff Cabraser Heimann & Bernstein, estimates 3,000 employees may be eligible to participate. The suit covers claims under federal, California and Minnesota law.

A Wells Fargo spokeswoman forwarded a response from the company to MinnPost this morning:

"Wells Fargo believes that people are our competitive advantage.  We are committed to compensating all of our team members appropriately and in accordance with state and federal law.  We dispute the allegations in this lawsuit, and we will vigorously defend ourselves in this matter. This recent order was a procedural, case management decision that did not involve the merits of the case."