Top Class Actions’s website and social media posts use affiliate links. If you make a purchase using such links, we may receive a commission, but it will not result in any additional charges to you. Please review our Affiliate Link Disclosure for more information.
Cognizant Technology Solutions Corp. is poised to settle a $5.7 million class action lawsuit filed against it by a group of employees who claimed the company failed to pay them for overtime hours they worked.
Paperwork filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California this month indicates the global information technology company reached a general agreement with the workers two years ago after the case went to mediation. Since that time, the two sides and the presiding judge in the case have been working to finalize the details of the settlement.
Federal Judge Troy L. Nunley issued his preliminary approval of the terms on June 1.
“It appears to the court … the proposed amended settlement agreement is the product of serious, informed, noncollusive negotiations,” the judge wrote in his review of the case and opinion. “It has no obvious deficiencies; it does not improperly grant preferential treatment to class representatives or segments of the class; and it falls within the range of possible approval.”
Case Against Cognizant Technology Solutions
The class action lawsuit was brought against Cognizant Technology Solutions in August 2017 by plaintiff Debi M., a testing analyst who worked for the company doing quality assurance at Blue Shield of California in Sacramento, California. Blue Shield of California is one of Cognizant’s clients.
Other employees included in the class action also work in Cognizant’s quality assurance testing division, a news report on the settlement published by Staffing Industry Analysts states.
The lawsuit accused Cognizant Technology Solutions of underpaying their employees the overtime they were due by discounting bonuses referred to as “Tru Up” payments when calculating the workers’ regular rate of pay. That practice resulted in the lead plaintiff being shortchanged $12.21 per hour of overtime and violated the federal Fair Labor Standards Act and California labor laws, he claimed.
A forensic economist hired by the aggrieved workers later estimated Cognizant Technology Solutions could have cost its employees as much as $11.2 million by discounting the “Tru Up” bonuses, Judge Nunley revealed in his review of the case and settlement proposal.
Cognizant Refuted the Claims
Cognizant Technology Solutions insisted the workers involved in the class action lawsuit “did not actually work overtime hours and instead merely recorded overtime as a means of obtaining faster and more evenly spread pay,” Judge Nunley noted. What’s more, the company insisted its employees rarely, if ever, work overtime, the legal filing said.
About the Company
Cognizant is a Fortune 500 company that employs more than 290,000 workers worldwide, and about 50,000 in the U.S., according to a CBS News profile on the company produced in March 2019. Headquartered in Teaneck, N.J., Cognizant has 32 other offices across the country and additional locations around the globe.
The company specializes in information technology outsourcing, but also provides consulting services. It earned $16.8 billion in revenue in 2019 and $1.8 billion in net income, according to its year-end financial reporting.
Settlement Details
In addition to giving his preliminary approval on the settlement generally, Judge Nunley agreed to appoint the lead plaintiff as the class representative and said he can receive an extra $10,000 in that capacity. The judge also agreed to award the plaintiffs’ lawyers up to 25 percent of the overall award and up to $45,000 in expenses.
The net settlement awarded to the Cognizant Technology Solutions workers totals more than $4.2 million.
A hearing for the final approval of the settlement has been set in the district court for November 12, 2020.
The Cognizant Technology Solutions Class Action Lawsuit is Case No. 2:17-cv-01785-TLN-EFB, in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California.
Join a Free California Wage & Hour Class Action Lawsuit Investigation
If you were forced to work off the clock or without overtime pay within the past 3 years in California, you have rights – and you don’t have to take on the company alone.
ATTORNEY ADVERTISING
Top Class Actions is a Proud Member of the American Bar Association
LEGAL INFORMATION IS NOT LEGAL ADVICE
Top Class Actions Legal Statement
©2008 – 2024 Top Class Actions® LLC
Various Trademarks held by their respective owners
This website is not intended for viewing or usage by European Union citizens.
