Computer maker Dell is now facing a class action lawsuit that alleges the company underpaid 5,000 call center employees.
A U.S. federal judge in the Oregon-filed case gave the lawsuit class-action status last week, according to an article in the Austin American Statesman. Any of the U.S. Dell call center employees who worked from February 8, 2004 to the present can now join the lawsuit to sue Dell as a group, according to the story.
The lawsuit was filed in February 2007 by two employees claiming they were not properly paid for overtime, training, or work preparation time, the story said. The employees are asking the company to pay back their missing wages, including interest, and to fund their attorneys fees. Spherion Corp., a staffing agency that works closely with Dell, is also named as a defendant, according to The Statesman.
Since the case was granted class-action status, 80 more employees have signed on as plaintiffs. A lawyer for the employees said the suit applies to as many as 5,000 former and current call center workers from offices in Texas, Tennessee, Oklahoma, Idaho, and Oregon.
The Statesman also said a similar suit has been filed in Austin by customer service representatives who deal with Dell's corporate customers.
A Dell representative declined to comment to CNET News on the specifics of the pending litigation, but confirmed that the company disputes claims in the case filings.
In May, Dell lost a lawsuit brought by the New York attorney general that claimed the company had been engaging in fraud and deceptive business practices.
This article was first published as a blog on CNET News.com.
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Posted by anonymous on Friday, July 18 2008 03:24 AM