CHICAGO — In a recently filed proposed collective action wage and overtime pay lawsuit, Citigroup Inc. is alleged to have misclassified its information technology (IT) contractors and denied them the overtime to which they were entitled. The lawsuit, filed in New York federal court, claims the company violated the Fair Labor Standards Act when it classified the IT contractors as independent contractors and did not pay them for all of the hours they worked.
IT Contractors’ Claims
Many companies use contract employees to provide for their IT needs. Typically contractors are either completely independent and may provide their services to any company or they are employees of a separate employer which staffs its employees at a company under contract. In this case, the IT contractors were paid by a staffing company, The Judge Company Inc., under a professional payment plan. However, the IT contractors worked exclusively for Citigroup and believe they should have been classified as employees of Citigroup. The IT contractors claim they regularly worked more than 40 hours in a workweek at Citigroup without receiving overtime compensation. Yet, despite being employed, under contract with, and receiving compensation from The Judge Company, Citigroup allegedly controlled all of the work the IT contractors performed.
Citigroup and IT Lawsuits
In October of last year, Citigroup settled a separate class action overtime pay lawsuit in which the company allegedly misclassified home lending specialist employees. The current lawsuit was filed by three current and former Citigroup IT contractors who seek to represent similarly situated current and former IT contractors working for Citigroup through the staffing agency over the past three years. This lawsuit comes months after a New Jersey federal judge dismissed a portion of the claims in a separate IT contractor class action against Bank of America, but allowed the plaintiffs to continue with their FLSA claim. The IT workers in that case were also hired by a staffing agency to work for Bank of America as hourly employees, yet were not provided overtime pay. Both lawsuits are claiming the respective banks have a joint employment relationship with the staffing agency and the contractors.
It can be difficult to determine which company is your employer in contract employment situations like the ones described above. If you believe you are not receiving proper wage and overtime time compensation from your employer or are improperly classified as an independent contractor, you may have a wage or overtime pay claim. Our top-rated team of overtime pay lawyers can be reached at (855) 754-2795. Or you may complete our Free Unpaid Overtime Case Review form and our legal team will evaluate your claim. If we accept your case, we will represent you under our No Fee Promise. This means there are no legal fees or costs unless you receive a settlement. Time is limited for filing wage and overtime complaints so it is important to call today!