California Overtime Law Class Action Seeks $5 Million
The online enterprise was founded in Seattle almost nine years ago, and since that time has grown its revenue base to $291.9 million over the past four quarters, according to reports. Plans were announced late last year to expand its Seattle headquarters by 113,000 square feet through the addition of five extra floors, in order to meet the demands of what Zillow characterizes as “record growth.”
And yet, some employees allege they are being shortchanged…
Zillow opened an advertising sales office in Irvine two years ago. The office is staffed by sales agents who pitch Zillow “Premier Agent” adverts to real estate agents across the US. The work environment has been described as high-energy and high-pressure - likened to a “boiler room” - with long hours and a workplace atmosphere that is somewhat of a departure from a more traditional workplace environment.
It’s an environment that suits some employees, but not all. Plaintiff Ian Freeman thinks it’s an affront to overtime pay laws in the state.
According to the Orange County Register (11/21/14), Freeman alleges that Zillow systematically pressured hourly employees to commence work early, work late and also toil through their lunch breaks without any additional compensation, or so it is alleged. Former employees of Zillow interviewed by the Orange County Register noted the high-pressure environment, escalating monthly sales quotas and a daily blitz where employees, according to the ex-staffers, were required to stand for hours at a time dialing potential clients without breaks.
“It’s all about squeezing revenue out of the sales force,” said Isaac Cobian, 25, of Costa Mesa, who resigned from Zillow in August after eight months working as an “inside sales consultant.”
“They used a lot of intimidation tactics to have employees work long hours without overtime out of fear of being reprimanded,” Cobian said.
It is employees like Cobian that Freeman is thinking about with his overtime pay lawsuit, and why he wants to see it go forward as a class action. The Orange County plaintiff, who worked in Zillow’s Irvine office for two years until this past September, alleges in his California overtime law claim that Zillow used an automated timekeeping system that recorded an employee workday as extending from 8 am to 4 pm, regardless of the actual hours worked.
“Through various memos, meetings and methods of intimidation, Zillow demanded from plaintiffs and class members to begin work prior to the automatically recorded 8 am start time and continue working well beyond the previously recorded 4 pm punch-out time,” the lawsuit said.
The overtime pay putative class action seeks $5 million in damages. The case is Ian Freeman v. Zillow, Inc. et al, Case No. 8:14-cv-01843, filed November 20, 2014 in US District Court for the Central District of California. The lawsuit alleges violations against the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) and California overtime law.
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