Lawsuit seeks $6.5M in owed pay

Court papers filed in Sacramento claim that a former Farmers Insurance Group district manager is owed $13.8 million in overtime pay and benefits. The former manager, Michael Pexa, claims he worked for Farmers Insurance, not a an independent business owner contracted by the company. The company, in a response filed in court, said Pexa hired his own staff and used company expenses to buy a Ferrari and cover a $66,000 entry fee to a country club -- and $25,000 in monthly dues. Those are the kinds of expenses written off by someone who runs his own business; not a company employee, Farmers Insurance claims. The company also said Pexa filed taxes that list him as an independent, writing off the Ferrari and two other vehicles -- a BMW and an Escalade -- as business expenses, as well as trips in a motor home. The Sacramento Bee reported Tuesday that Pexa earned $2.6 million from the company in four years. But Pexa's lawyers claims he could not hire or fire employees and that he was forbidden to work for any other company. The lawsuit asks for $6.5 million in overtime pay owed, $5.5 million for business expenses, $1 million for his pension, nearly three-quarters of a million for "contract value" and $2,000 per month four fur years to cover medical insurance, the Bee reported.