San Francisco, CA: An employment class action lawsuit has been filed against AT&T in Northern California alleging that the wireless phone giant has violated the rights of at-home virtual call center employees under the California Labor Code. The class action lawsuit against AT&T for Labor Code violations was filed on March 28, 2011 in the Northern District of California, entitled Perry v. AT&T and Arise, Case No. CV111498JCS.
According to the class action complaint, the mobile and wireless provider has hired at-home call center employees to provide billing and technical support for AT&T customers. The complaint alleges that AT&T devised an illegal scheme of mislabeling these virtual at-home call center employees as independent contractors in order to avoid workers' compensation costs as well as paying state and/or federal taxes.
The AT&T call center employee class action lawsuit further alleges that the wireless provider intentionally misclassified the at-home virtual call center employees as independent contractors in order to get around wage & hour requirements in violation of California employment laws. Whereas the state' minimum wage rules, lunch break requirements and overtime laws protect employees, the laws do not apply to independent contractors.
The AT&T overtime class action lawsuit alleges that the wireless provider mislabeled at-home call center employees because these workers are required to perform work subject to AT&T' control. AT&T has the authority to exercise complete control over the work performed and the manner in which the work is performed by these at-home call center employees. Further, AT&T controls the at-home virtual call center employees' work schedule and hours
