Call center employees suing One Touch Direct LLC over claims that the company failed to pay them overtime recently secured a procedural victory when a Florida federal judge conditionally certified the suit as a class action, as reported on Law360 (subscription required).
The lawsuit, filed in July 2014, alleges that for at least one year, One Touch phone service representatives were required by the company to arrive up to 15 minutes prior to their shift without being allowed to clock in for that extra time. They claim that the failure to compensate them constitutes a violation of the federal Fair Labor Standards Act.
One Touch is a provider of direct marketing and call center services. The court’s certification of the collective action paves the way for a class of plaintiffs to potentially more than 5,600 phone service representatives employed at four sites in the Tampa, Florida area over the past three years.
The plaintiffs also alleges that One Touch withheld commissions on overtime rates, and that employees were only paid for five minutes of break time, despite being encouraged to take up to 20 minutes. The suit seeks back pay for overtime, unpaid hours of work, and attorneys’ fees and costs.
If you or someone you know has been the victim of an employer’s wage, the attorneys in Sommers Schwartz’s Employment Litigation Group can help you take action to recover the compensation to which you may be entitled.
