Court dismisses CIBC overtime lawsuit

Article Excerpt

CANADIAN IMPERIAL BANK OF COMMERCE $57 (Toronto symbol CM; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Finance sector; Shares outstanding: 381.5 million; Market cap: $21.7 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 1.5; SI Rating: Above Average) became the target of a $600 million class-action lawsuit in June 2007. Former and current employees accused the bank of failing to pay overtime. (CIBC lost $51 million, or $0.24 a share, in the three months ended April 30, 2009, mainly because of $743 million in writedowns.) Last month, a judge ruled that the suit did not meet the criteria for a class-action trial, though individual claims can still go ahead. Despite the ruling, the case’s high profile will probably force CIBC to change the way it manages employees. That will almost certainly increase its labour costs. However, it’s likely that other banks will also change their overtime rules to avoid similar lawsuits. CIBC is a buy. buy…