Facebook Sued for Depriving Workers of Overtime

Facebook is facing a class-action lawsuit from a former manager claiming the social network deliberately misclassified its employees to avoid paying them overtime.

As mentioned in Ars Technica, Susie Bigger alleges that she and countless other Facebook workers are illegally classified as managers as part of “defendant’s scheme to deprive them of overtime compensation.”

According to the lawsuit, the primary duties of the different titled positions are nearly identical. Their duties “involve communicating with existing Facebook advertising customers, implementing their marketing plans, and selling Facebook marketing products and services to existing customers.” The suit says a “large percentage” of their compensation comes from “commissions from the sale of Facebook’s marketing products.”

The lawsuit explains these positions don’t constitute management jobs. “Management positions lawfully enable companies to withhold overtime pay, which is one and one-half times regular pay—after an employee works 40 hours in a week.”