Sutherland Global Reaches $1M Unpaid Wages Class Action Settlement

Outsourcing firm Sutherland Global Services Inc. has agreed to pay $1.075 million in an unpaid wages class action settlement, resolving allegations brought by a proposed class of customer service representatives who claimed the company shorted them on wages.

The parties asked the New York federal judge presiding over the lawsuit to sign off on the unpaid wages class action settlement and to certify a provisional class of current and former home-based customer service representatives who worked between May 22, 2012 and July 29 for the purposes of the unpaid wages class action settlement.

“This settlement agreement was reached as a result of extensive and contested arm’s-length negotiations between the parties and their counsel, occurring over the course of nearly one year,” the joint motion in support of the unpaid wages class action settlement says.

Pittsford, N.Y.-based Sutherland was sued in May 2015 by two former customer service representatives, on behalf of all home-based service workers, saying the company violated fair labor laws in 18 states when it failed to properly compensate employees for all work performed.

Sutherland also required its home-based customer service representatives to perform during their 30-minute unpaid lunch break and failed to compensate them for “lengthy delays” associated with signing on to the system, according to the complaint.

“This off-the-clock time plaintiffs spent starting up and logging into each session directly benefited defendant and this process was an essential part of plaintiffs’ job responsibilities as home-based customer service representatives,” the complaint reads.

Terms of the Unpaid Wages Class Action Settlement

Under the terms of the proposed unpaid wages class action settlement, Sutherland agreed to pay class members a “pro rata share” of the balance of the $1.075 million settlement for regular hours worked and for overtime pay allegedly owed.

According to the court documents, Sutherland has more than 7,000 home-based customer service representative.

In its motion to approve the unpaid wages class action settlement, Sutherland “vigorously denied” the allegations and continues to dispute the claims, but opted for the unpaid wages class action settlement in order to avoid potential costs of further litigation.

Federal Labor Laws

Federal labor laws prohibit employers from permitting employees to do off-the-clock work without pay. Employers must pay workers for all work that they knew about or should have known about.

Not surprisingly, many employers look the other way while employees perform unpaid work voluntarily or under pressure.

The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) requires employers to pay for all hours worked, whether or not those hours are properly recorded on time cards or time sheets.

Under the FLSA, a work day begins when an employee starts their first work-related activity, and ends when they finish their last work-related activity of the day.

Employers who cut corners and disregard these rights can be held legally accountable by employees not to mention the fact that they may face stiff penalties.

The Sutherland Global Unpaid Wages Class Action Lawsuit is Tarrant et al v. Sutherland Global Services Inc., Case No. 6:15-cv-06320, in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of New York.

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