Rigrodsky & Long, P.A. Files Collective Action Against International Business Machines for Violations of the FLSA

Rigrodsky & Long, P.A. Files Collective Action Against International Business Machines for Violations of the FLSA

Rigrodsky & Long, P.A. announces it has filed a collective action on behalf of former employees of an International Business Machines (“IBM”) call center located in Dallas, Texas. Plaintiffs and all other similarly situated employees and former employees of IBM worked overtime hours, as defined under the Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”) and are, and/or have been, entitled to premium compensation at one and one-half times the regular hourly rate (“Overtime Compensation”) for any hours worked in excess of forty (40) hours per week, IBM has willfully refused to pay plaintiffs and others similarly situated the required Overtime Compensation for the overtime hours worked.

The lawsuit, pending in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas, alleges that IBM has violated Section 16(b) of the FLSA. IBM’s policy has been, and is, to pay Call Center Employees, including plaintiffs, only for their scheduled hours, which is normally an eight hour shift. Plaintiffs, and other Call Center Employees, however, are required to arrive at work 10-15 minutes prior to the start of their regular shift to perform tasks necessary for their positions, such as fully booting computers and ensuring that all relevant applications are loaded. In addition, Call Center Employees are required to complete all customer calls before they can leave work, even if their shift has ended, and are required to work during meal and rest breaks if necessary, to complete customer calls. As a consequence, Call Center Employees routinely work in excess of forty (40) hours per week without receiving Overtime Compensation.